The Teacher-Student Relationship: A comparative study of the report of students with autism spectrum disorder and typical development

Abstract

The teacher-student relationship (TSR) is an essential factor in promoting academic success. Even though students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience more educational difficulties, the TSR in ASD students has been understudied, and there is a significant empirical gap in the perception that ASD adolescent students themselves have of their relationships with their teachers. The present study followed a non-experimental, correlational, cross-sectional, and comparative design to analyze the TSR in ASD adolescents in comparison to the TSR of their typically developing (TD) peers. Sixty-four students (33 females, 31 males) who were in their first year of secondary school (mean age: M=14.85, SD=.14) participated in the study. Thirty-two of them had ASD, and thirty-two had TD. The TSR subscale of the SEI was applied (Appleton et al., 2006). The results show significant interaction effects between student condition and gender, where female ASD students reported a poorer quality relationship than their male ASD peers. These findings differ from existing research indicating that ASD students experience poorer quality TSR and that female students experience better relationships than male students. The critical role of the existing school integration program in Chilean schools and guidelines for future research to explain the gender differences found in this study are discussed.