Measuring the quality of teacher-child interaction in autistic disorder

The teacher-child relationship fulfils critical functions for the well being of the child, affecting emotive development, academic achievements, behavioral conducts and relationships with peers. A good relationship with the teacher constitutes a preventive factor against those developmental risks which are connected to problematic family circumstances or to negative school experiences, especially in children with impairments. The goal of the presented study is to compare the perceptions of the class teacher and of the support teacher concerning their relationship with subjects with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD; N=14; Mean age =90.07 months; SD=19.36) and with children of the control group (4 classmates per every subject of the experimental group, for a total of 56 pupils, Mean age = 80.36 months; SD=18.33). The employed instruments were the STRS, the peer assessment, the ABI; the academic performance and the commitment to schooling were evaluated by the class teacher and the support teacher throughout a 3-point Likert scale. The perception by the teacher of the class, concerning the relationship with children with ASD, is characterized by higher levels of Conflict, and lower levels of Closeness, if compared with perceptions about the relationship with children of the control group (Conflict: t=-3.317; df= 14.931; p<0.01; Closeness: t= 5.638; df = 65; p < 0.001). The perception of the two teachers only correlates with regards to the Conflict dimension (r=0.769; p < 0.01). In reference to the child's adaptive skills only the social skills scale correlates with the Closeness. This is true in the perception of the support teacher (r=0.598; p<0.05). Finally, we take into account how the perception of the relationship firstly relates with the socio-personal and professional data of the teachers, and secondly with the social features of the children, whose perception by the classmates was recorded throughout the peer assessment.