Social network analysis of children with autism spectrum disorder: Predictors of fragmentation and connectivity in elementary school classrooms.
Boys with autism lose friends when elementary classes grow above the kids, so shrink the room or add peer-buddy routines.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team mapped friendship networks in 26 elementary classrooms. They asked every child to name their friends and playmates.
Each class had one boy with autism. The researchers counted how many kids linked to the autistic boy and tracked class size.
What they found
Boys with autism in big classes had fewer friendship ties. Class size did not hurt the social ties of typical boys.
Girls with autism were not studied, so the risk is only known for boys.
How this fits with other research
Chen et al. (2019) saw the same split in preschool: kids with disabilities formed smaller play groups. The pattern starts early and lasts.
Chen et al. (2022) found both autistic and typical students prefer same-neurotype friends. This homophily explains why bigger classes let typical peers drift away.
Poppes et al. (2010) showed that quiet autistic boys can still be liked if peers understand autism. Ariana’s size effect does not contradict this; it just shows that large rooms give peers fewer chances to learn those traits.
Why it matters
If you place an autistic boy in a large mainstream class, add structured buddy time or keep the class under the kids. Small rooms force peers to notice strengths and cut the risk of isolation.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although children with autism spectrum disorder are frequently included in mainstream classrooms, it is not known how their social networks change compared to typically developing children and whether the factors predictive of this change may be unique. This study identified and compared predictors of social connectivity of children with and without autism spectrum disorder using a social network analysis. Participants included 182 children with autism spectrum disorder and 152 children without autism spectrum disorder, aged 5-12 years in 152 general education K-5 classrooms. General linear models were used to compare how age, classroom size, gender, baseline connectivity, diagnosis, and intelligence quotient predicted changes in social connectivity (closeness). Gender and classroom size had a unique interaction in predicting final social connectivity and the change in connectivity for children with autism spectrum disorder; boys who were placed in larger classrooms showed increased social network fragmentation. This increased fragmentation for boys when placed in larger classrooms was not seen in typically developing boys. These results have implications regarding placement, intervention objectives, and ongoing school support that aimed to increase the social success of children with autism spectrum disorder in public schools.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2016 · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12242