Friendships in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: What holds them back, child characteristics or teacher behavior?
Only 20% of preschoolers with autism had classroom friends, and stronger joint attention marked that lucky few.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Chang et al. (2016) watched 3- to 5-year-olds with autism in regular preschool rooms.
They asked: who has a real friend in class, and what skills set those kids apart?
They also noted how often teachers used simple friendship moves such as pairing kids or praising shared play.
What they found
Only one in five children with autism had a classroom friend.
The kids who did have friends showed stronger joint attention and joint engagement.
Teachers rarely used any friendship-facilitation tricks, even during free play.
How this fits with other research
Freeman et al. (2015) already showed that better joint attention at age 3 predicts closer, less rocky friendships at age 8–9.
Chang et al. (2016) now show the same link inside preschool classrooms, so the two studies form a tidy timeline.
McKeown et al. (2021) give the next step: when adults finally teach friendship skills with toys and praise, preschoolers with autism learn them fast.
Higgins et al. (2021) add a reason teachers must act: autistic preschoolers talk far less with peers, so they stay on the fringe unless we push them in.
Why it matters
If you run an inclusive preschool, screen for joint attention first. Kids low on this skill are the least likely to form friends. Then borrow the simple tactics from McKeown et al. (2021): pick a peer, hand a shared toy, and reinforce cooperative play. You do not need a new program—just five extra minutes of planned pairing each day.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children begin to show preferences for specific playmates as early as the first 2 years of life. Children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty making friends, even in elementary and middle school. However, very little is known about earlier friendships in children with autism such as preschool friendships. This study examined friendships in preschool children with autism and explored how joint attention contributes to these friendships in mainstream settings. A secondary aim was to determine the extent to which teachers used strategies to facilitate friendship development. The participants were 31 mainstreamed preschool children (ages 2-5 years) with autism spectrum disorder. School observations were conducted individually to capture participants' interactions with peers and adults during free play. The results indicated that 20% of the participants had friendships at school. Children with friends were more likely than children without friends to be jointly engaged with their peers during free play, and they used higher joint attention skills. Teachers used few friendship facilitating strategies, and more often used behavioral management strategies within the classrooms. Future studies may want to examine the effects of early interventions and/or teacher training on the development of friendships in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder within the school setting.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2016 · doi:10.1177/1362361314567761