Subject Area
Sociology
Description
Building relationships at the preschool level is a significant developmental milestone of early childhood. Children with disabilities often lack certain social and language skills necessary to build friendships with peers. While many preschool children with disabilities have difficulty building relationships, this study will concentrate on autistic children and their ability to achieve social competency. There are three classroom environments in which preschool children with autism can be educated: the self-contained classroom, the inclusion classroom, and home schooling. This qualitative study attempted to determine whether the self-contained classroom or the inclusive classroom promotes more social competency building in preschoolers with autism. It was hypothesized that autistic children who are educated in an inclusive classroom will become more socially competent than autistic children who are educated in a self-contained classroom. Analysis of the data revealed that both autistic children in the inclusion classroom and the self-contained classroom have gained some social skills, but are not considered socially competent. Thus, from the results of the study it cannot be determined which classroom environment—the self-contained or the inclusive—is best suited for building social competency in autistic preschoolers.
Publisher
Providence College
Date
Spring 4-28-2009
Type
Thesis
Format
Text
Language
English
Comments
A project based on independent investigation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Social Work. Originally written for the Theory Practice Seminar, Providence College, 2009.