A national sample of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders: special education services and parent satisfaction.
Parents of preschoolers with autism are least satisfied with peer-inclusion time under IDEA services—so target real peer interaction, not just placement.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team mailed surveys to a national sample of parents with preschoolers who have autism.
They asked what IDEA services the kids got and how happy parents felt about each part.
The survey covered speech therapy, special-education time, and time spent with typical peers.
What they found
Kids with autism got the same types of services as kids with other disabilities.
Yet parents were least happy about the amount of time their child spent with typical peers.
Other parts of the plan, like therapy hours, left parents more satisfied.
How this fits with other research
Towle et al. (2018) followed the same children later idea but tracked them for years.
They show service intensity stays high for kids who keep the autism label, extending the 2008 snapshot into a moving picture.
Chen et al. (2019) looked inside the classroom and found children with disabilities form smaller, separate play groups.
This helps explain why parents in 2008 felt uneasy about peer time: the kids were in the room but not truly included.
Cohen et al. (1990) tested segregated versus integrated rooms and found no language boost either way.
Their early work hints that simply placing children together does not guarantee real peer contact, matching the 2008 parent feedback.
Why it matters
When you walk into the next IEP meeting, ask two questions: "How many minutes a day will my client spend in joint play with typical peers?" and "What pairing plan makes that play real, not just parallel?" The 2008 data say parents care most about this piece, and newer network studies show why it often fails without a plan.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) examines the preschool and early elementary school experiences of a nationally representative sample of 3,104 children ages 3-5 with disabilities from 2004 through 2009. This paper describes the special education and related services received by a subsample of 186 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in 2003-2004 and parental satisfaction with those services. Past research and patterns of litigation suggest that parents of children with ASD are not wholly satisfied with the special education and related services their children receive. In the current study, the authors found many similarities between children with ASD and children with other disabilities in the type of services received under IDEA and in parent satisfaction with these services. Still, some significant differences emerged in the number of services received, the amount of time children with ASD spent in special education settings, and parent satisfaction with the amount of time children spent with typically developing peers. Implications about the importance of parent satisfaction and social validity measures are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2008 · doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0531-9