I have already posted about what is perhaps the most obvious disadvantage of the mainstream school – bullying.  But there is another problem which is at least as important, and probably much more so.  It is more subtle and insidious, but certainly no less damaging.  It is the problem of social isolation.

There is ample research to demonstrate that autistic people in the mainstream are isolated.  Autistic children often lack friendships and may find themselves reduced to the peripheries of social networks (Kasari et al., 2011).  They experience more loneliness (Locke et al., 2010), and have less social support (Humphrey & Symes, 2010).  Autistics are less likely to sit with friends during lessons, they are more likely to spend their time alone during breaks and during lunch (Wainscot et al., 2008), and they are more likely to be excluded from activities and groups (Kloosterman et al., 2013).  Peers are less likely to want to work with autistic children (Jones & Frederickson, 2010).  Disturbingly, autistic children are eight times more likely to report being ostracized – being ignored and made to feel like they do not exist – than their TD peers (Twyman et al., 2010).

Even in elementary school, only 18-20% have reciprocal friendships (Kasari et al., 2011), and while overt bullying might decrease with age (Cappadocia et al., 2012), social isolation seems to increase as autistic children enter the older grades (Rotheram-Fuller et al., 2010).

I strongly suspect that these experiences of isolation can be greatly reduced in specialized schools.  In part, this suspicion is based on some observations I have made of special schools.  While I’ve never personally attended a specialized school for autistics, or disabled children generally, I have had the opportunity to see a couple of small specialized schools for autistic and neurodivergent students.  The students in these small schools seemed very comfortable with one another, and that they enjoyed one another’s company.  Indeed, I was astonished to see how fearlessly and happily social many were with one another, where an autistic child in a mainstream school might have been cautious to engage in interaction.

I’ve also been part of several groups of autistic adults over the years, and I’ve experienced the feeling of belonging, of membership in a community, that one can find in such groups.  Jim Sinclair (2010) has written very eloquently about this sense of belonging, and I highly recommend that readers should take the time to peruse xir thoughts.

So why might autistic people be isolated in the mainstream, but not in schools and communities specialized for autistics?  There are many reasons.  Here are just a few:

• People prefer to choose friends who are similar to themselves. Autistic people are different from neurotypicals, but might be more similar to one another.  Of course, that’s not to say that all autistics are alike.  The phrase, “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person,” might be slightly overused, but there is a reason we use it so often.  However, even if autistic people are different from one another, many share a common experience of being excluded by others, which can inspire them towards a principled commitment to toleration of difference.  Sinclair (2010, “Autistic Differences,” para. 4) expresses this idea when noting that even if an autistic can’t “automatically expect to find other people who are like him or her” in communities of autistic people, he or she “can expect to be accepted for who he or she is.”
• People also prefer to choose friends who enjoy the same sorts of activities as themselves. At least one study suggests that autistic children, on average, prefer different types of activities than neurotypicals: while neurotypicals might play ball sports or “go out,” autistics might like to play board games (Bauminger & Shulman, 2003).  Luke Jackson (2002, p. 40), writing as an adolescent on the autism spectrum, describes the activities preferred by his neurotypical peers as “illogical” and “mindless.”
• Autistic people might experience more stress during interactions with neurotypicals, because of the latter’s greater social fluency (Wood & Gadow, 2010). With other autistic people, autistics might not feel so much pressure to keep up, and might be able to slow down to a more comfortable level.

We also have some evidence to support the idea that autistics do, in fact, tend to form friendships with other autistics:

• Qualitative research studies suggest that autistic children often seek out other autistics for friendship, even in mainstream schools (Cook et al., 2016, pp. 257, 259; Cook et al., 2018, p. 307).
• Quantitative evidence confirms that autistic children are more likely than their peers to have friendships with disabled children (Bauminger & Shulman, 2003; Bauminger et al., 2008).
• A quantitative analysis of friendship networks in a mixed classroom suggests that groups of autistic children may spontaneously form friendships with one another, while neurotypicals may spontaneously form separate friendship networks of their own (Locke et al., 2010).

Therefore, it seems reasonable to suppose that at least some autistic students might have better social experiences and opportunities to form meaningful friendships in specialized schools, rather than the mainstream.  This is another reason to provide autistic people and their families with a genuine choice between mainstream and specialized educational options.  Of course, if a student would be on a diploma track in the mainstream, they should have that same opportunity in the specialized program.  Furthermore, while the school system may offer information about specialized choices to families and individuals, it should be clear that all students have a right to the mainstream.  The process of moving to a specialized school or program should be initiated by the individual and the family, not the school system.

 

And what do you think of this?  Comment below!

References

Bauminger, N., & Shulman, C. (2003). The development and maintenance of friendship in high-functioning children with autism. Autism, 7(1), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361303007001007

Bauminger, N., Solomon, M., Aviezer, A., Heung, K., Gazit, L., Brown, J., & Rogers, S. J. (2008). Children with autism and their friends: A multidimensional study of friendship in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9156-x

Cappadocia, M. C., Weiss, J. A., & Pepler, D. (2012). Bullying experiences among children and youth with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(2), 266–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1241-x

Cook, A., Ogden, J., & Winstone, N. (2016). The experiences of learning, friendship and bullying of boys with autism in mainstream and special settings: a qualitative study. British Journal of Special Education, 43(3), 250–271. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12143

Cook, A., Ogden, J., & Winstone, N. (2018). Friendship motivations, challenges and the role of masking for girls with autism in contrasting school settings. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 33(3), 302-315. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2017.1312797

Humphrey, N., & Symes, W. (2010). Perceptions of social support and experience of bullying among pupils with autistic spectrum disorders in mainstream secondary schools. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 25(1), 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856250903450855

Jackson, L. (2002). Freaks, geeks, & Asperger syndrome: A user guide to adolescence. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley.

Jones, A. P., & Frederickson, N. (2010). Multi-informant predictors of social inclusion for students with autism spectrum disorders attending mainstream school. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(9), 1094–1103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-0957-3

Kasari, C., Locke, J., Gulsrud, A., & Rotheram-Fuller, E. (2011). Social networks and friendships at school: Comparing children with and without ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1076-x

Kloosterman, P. H., Kelley, E. A., Craig, W. M., Parker, J. D. A., & Javier, C. (2013). Types and experiences of bullying in adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(7), 824–832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2013.02.013

Locke, J., Ishijima, E. H., Kasari, C., & London, N. (2010). Loneliness, friendship quality and the social networks of adolescents with high-functioning autism in an inclusive school setting. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 10(2), 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-3802.2010.01148.x

Rotheram-Fuller, E., Kasari, C., Chamberlain, B., & Locke, J. (2010). Social involvement of children with autism spectrum disorders in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(11), 1227–1234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02289.x

Sinclair, J. (2010). Cultural commentary: Being autistic together. Disability Studies Quarterly, 30(1). Retrieved from http://www.dsq-sds.org/article/view/1075/1248

Twyman, K. A., Saylor, C. F., Saia, D., Macias, M. M., Taylor, L. A., & Spratt, E. (2010). Bullying and ostracism experiences in children with special health care needs. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 31(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181c828c8

Wainscot, J. J., Naylor, P., Sutcliffe, P., Tantam, D., & Williams, J. V. (2008). Relationships with peers and use of the school environment of mainstream secondary school pupils with Asperger syndrome (high-functioning autism): A case-control study. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 8(1), 25–28. Retrieved from http://www.ijpsy.com/volumen8/num1/181.html

Wood, J. J., & Gadow, K. D. (2010). Exploring the nature and function of anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorders. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 17(4), 281–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2850.2010.01220.x