Abstract

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are characterized by difficulties in social relations with their peer group which are a diagnostic component of the disorder (APA, 2013). However, alongside the difficulties, there are significant individual differences between the children to which both cognitive abilities and interactions with adults contribute (Bauminger-Zviely, 2013). Findings from typically developing children suggest that social skills with the peer group are influenced by the classroom environment (Pianta, Nimetz & Bennett, 1997) which includes interactions with the teachers and particularly their sensitivity (Mashburn et al., 2008). This has been established with typically developing children but not with those with ASD. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between the classroom environment and the social skills of preschoolers with ASD.

The first hypothesis was that there would be an association between the classroom environment and the social skills among children with ASD, as found among children with typical development. The second hypothesis was that the associations between the classroom environment and social skills would be above and beyond the child's level of cognitive functioning. The third hypothesis was that the association between the classroom environment and social skills would be above and beyond the influence of structural factors, including the number of children in the kindergarten classroom, Staff-child ratio and teacher's seniority at work.

The study included 53 boys with ASD between the age of 29 months to 66 months who were observed at preschool. The following tools were used for diagnosis and evaluation of the children: The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS; Lord et al., 2000), The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ; Rutter, et al., 2003) , The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABSII; Sparrow, et al., 2005) ,Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence- Third Edition (WPPSI- III HEB; Wechsler, 2002) or the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL; Mullen, 1995). Children's social skills were assessed using behavioral observations coded using the Social Skills Q-Sort (SSQ; Locke, Kretzmann, & Kasari, 2008). The classroom environment was assessed using observations and coded using to the CLASS- Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta, La (Paro & Hamre, 2008).

As hypothesized, the classroom environment was associated with social skills among children with ASD so that supportive classroom environments were associated with higher social skills of the children. In line with the second hypothesis, this association held even when children's cognitive functioning was controlled. Finally, consistent with the third hypothesis, the classroom environment was associated with children's social skills even after controlling for structural characteristics of the kindergarten and kindergarten's teacher. In fact, the structural characteristics were found to be unrelated to children's social skills.

The findings shed new light on the contribution of the quality of the classroom environment to the social skills of children with ASD. The practical significant of this study is derived from the fact that social skills are significantly impaired among children with ASD and there for this examination as both theoretical and applied implications.