School is the main environment where, outside of the family circle, children experience social interactions that are crucial for learning and practicing social skills. These interactions relate to how socially connected a child feels at school. When a child feels that there is a lack in quantity and quality of their social connections, feelings of loneliness arise. Studies report that autistic children are less socially connected and experience more loneliness compared to allistic (non-autistic) children. What is yet unknown, is individual differences in how autistic and allistic children construe their own social connectedness.
Two types of social connectedness are:
- Physical connectedness is the pupils´ physical proximity with their peers in school at recess. An example is playing next to a peer on a playground.
- Emotional connectedness is the peer connections with which pupils identify. This happens when a social connection becomes meaningful, is acknowledged, and a psychological bond is formed.
Especially physical connectedness in school can be important for autistic children. Being in proximity of other pupils creates opportunities for physical contact, building social connections, and fostering mutual understanding. This allows autistic children to be part of the group and learn social skills without being overwhelmed. However, research indicates that autistic children spend more time alone during recess, engaging in solitary activities, and less frequently initiate or respond to social interactions. With regards to emotional connectedness, research indicates that autistic pupils are less often viewed as close friends and are less engaged in reciprocal friendships.
How do autistic children themselves view their own social connectedness?
When autistic children are asked about their own social connectedness, they feel like they are indeed socially involved and nominate more friends, even though these nominations are often not reciprocated. Allistic pupils tend to value reciprocity and closeness in their peer relationships, whereas autistic pupils find shared interests, companionships, and trust more important.
In primary school students, no group differences were found between autistic and allistic children. In adolescent pupils however, self-reported levels of loneliness were higher in autistic pupils. Autistic and allistic pupils experienced their loneliness for different reasons. Autistic adolescents felt lonelier when their social networks did not provide a sense of togetherness and safety and when they experienced lower levels of trust and companionship in their friendships. For allistic adolescents, higher levels of loneliness were related to fewer intimate and prosocial interactions with peers. The difference in the experience of loneliness between autistic and allistic children could thus be due to dynamic features of social connectedness. Peer interactions lead to connections, but a difference such as being autistic, may lead to different ways of viewing these connections.
The most important results can be summarized as followed:
- Autistic pupils had fewer reciprocated friendships than their allistic classmates.
- Autistic and allistic pupils were similarly connected to their peers in terms of time spent in social contacts, number of interaction partners during recess, and their centrality in classmate and playground networks.
- There was no difference in the experience of loneliness by the autistic and allistic pupils.
- Allistic children felt lonelier when they spent less time in physical social contact during recess.
- Autistic children felt lonelier when they were less central in the classmate network, as in less liked as a classmate to play with.
The data of their research was collected in a special education setting. That could have led to quite a positive picture being painted with regards to autistic children's sense of social connectedness and loneliness. In the special education setting the class size was smaller, school activities were more structured, and teachers were better equipped to identify problems and support and facilitate positive social dynamics among the children. There were more children with diagnoses. All these factors differ from mainstream education settings.
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