Social Integration of Student’s with Autism 2 The purpose of this paper is to review a research article examining the social integration of autistic students in inclusive elementary school classes. The article is: Boutot, E. A. & Bryant, D. P. (2005). Social integration of students with autism in inclusive settings. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 40(1), 14-23. The article by Boutot and Bryant (2005) begins with a fairly comprehensive review of the related literature that is used to establish a reason to believe that the social integration of student’s with autism in elementary schools may be difficult and hard to attain. The literature indicates that student’s with autism may, in fact, have difficulties gaining social status and establishing friends. The article also defines autism, explains the various deficits common to elementary students who are autistic, and discusses the components that comprise the concept of social integration. The discussion of social integration as a concept is extensive. Each component is separately discussed in terms of what the literature typically shows as to how autistic children function relative to the component, especially when they are in inclusive settings. The components include measures of social status and establishing friendship. Specifically, they are: social preference, social impact, and social network affiliations. The study ended with the formulation of two research purposes. These were: 1.) To examine for differences in the three major components of social integration (social preference, social impact, and social network affiliations) between students with autism and their non- disabled peers. 2.) To determine whether social integration measures were different among students with autism as a function of differences in certain autistic characteristics. Social Integration of Student’s with Autism 3 The methods section of the article describes and discusses all of the methods that were used to collect data. The sample is described as consisting of: (1) 141 non-disabled grade school students; (2) 26 non-autistic grade school students with other disabilities; and (3) ten autistic grade school students in inclusive elementary school settings. The section also discussed all of the instruments that were used to collect data. The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) was used to assess severity of autism. The Behavior Rating Profile Scale was used to measure social preference and social impact. Social network affiliation was assessed using a relatively complex matrix related to students' responses as to who they wished to hang out with often. The methods section ended with a specification of the contingency table to be used in analyzing the collected data. It should be noted that all data were treated as nominal in nature and statistical considerations were made for the fact that the Chi Square analysis couldn't be used to analyze the nominal data due to failure of the data to satisfy the assumptions underlying the analysis. The primary findings of the study were that autistic and non-disabled students showed no differences on any of the social integration measures. Further, none of the social integration measures was observed to differ as a function of differences in autistic characteristics. Comparisons between autistic and other disabled students were also conducted. Overall, the findings of the study were said to indicate that: students with autism in inclusive settings are as accepted, as visible, and members of peer groups, as well as both their peers without disabilities and those with other disabilities. (p. 14) Social Integration of Student’s with Autism 4 In this section of the article, findings are discussed in relation to the general purposes of the research. They are also discussed in relation to the existing research on each of the three social integration components. In addition to the above, this section of the article discusses certain informal observational findings. These informal findings are related to the primary findings of the study. The point is made that these observations supported the general conclusion that autistic and non-disabled peers were at equal levels in their degree of social integration. In conclusion, the article presented recommendations for future research. There was also a discussion of factors limiting the findings of the study. The limitations of the research are said to be: (1) the use of a small sample; (2) limited variability in the autistic characteristics of the autism group; and (3) failure to include females in the autistic sample. The significant limitations, because there were quite a few and because they are fairly serious, could be the actual cause of the findings of no significant differences between student groups. In other words, no differences were found between student groups because there were not enough students in one or more of the groups to make comparisons valid and/or females were not included. Or possibly the statistics used to make comparisons were too low-powered to discern small but significant differences between groups, and/or the measurements of social integration may have lacked reliability or validity. The above possibilities make it extremely difficult to put strong confidence in Boutot and Bryant's (2005) final conclusion of the study. The conclusion is the idea that autistic children Social Integration of Student’s with Autism 5 cannot successfully integrate socially into inclusive classroom is a myth. However, the research did not begin to establish the validity of this claim. Due to failings and limitations of the study, the claim that successful social integration of autistic children is a myth is, at best, a wild guess. Boutot and Bryant (2005) make several recommendations for future research. Each of these recommendations is reasonable. However, it also seems reasonable to state that before more expanded or altered versions of this research are performed in the future, there is a need to replicate this research making sure to correct for its failures in methods.

Social Integration of Student’s with Autism 6

Reference
Boutot, E. A. & Bryant, D. P. (2005). Social integration of students with autism in inclusive settings. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 40(1), 14-23.