What do you remember most about your relationship with teachers in kindergarten or the early school grades? Some people have fond memories—learning to read, making new friends, becoming attached to the teacher. Autistic children and other neurodivergent students, however, may have quite different experiences.
While the literature based on non-autistic student-teacher relationships has established that early and positive student-teacher relationships are crucial determinants of children’s short- and long-term academic outcomes, studies have shown that student-teacher relationships with autistic children may be more conflictual and less warm than for non-autistic students. This may reflect the challenges of a school context that is set up to meet the needs of neurotypical students, the self-reported need among teachers for more autism training and knowledge, or the fact that autistic students may communicate in ways general education teachers may not be familiar with.
However, for children at risk of or who have been diagnosed with autism, their relationships with their teachers can also serve as protective factors. Teachers who adapt their style to the child instead of expecting the child to conform to what the other children are doing, and those who attempt to get to know the child will potentially avoid conflict and create a positive relationship. For example, this is how two mothers of autistic students describe teachers’ interactions with their children:
“The teacher is a good match for her. She…gets down to her level and looks her in the eye when Naomi brings something to show her. She is enthusiastic and…she can redirect her well.”
“She makes George feel special. He needs verbal recognition daily, and she’s done a great job. She knows his needs and takes the time to accommodate him…she’s done a lot of investigation for him.”
For Naomi and George, their positive relationships with teachers will likely promote academic engagement, emotional security, better social relationships with peers, and even reduce off-task behaviors. When the teacher behaves warmly toward a child, other children are more likely to do so as well. These improvements in the student-teacher relationship can carry over into later grades and even to the students themselves:
“[The best teachers are those who] make you feel like you belong and value you as a person and not just a student.” Madison, 17-year-old high school student, reflecting on her K-12 experiences
As researchers and co-investigators at the University of California, Riverside and the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Abbey Eisenhower, Ph.D., and I, along with our colleagues, have tackled this question. With funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, we spent 10 years studying what makes the transition to early schooling for young autistic children successful. We found that the student-teacher relationship was key. Over the following five years, we developed an intervention for general education teachers aimed toward building this relationship.
Unique to the intervention was the iterative, or step-by-step, process used in development, incorporating feedback from teachers in the field and from autistic consultants to the study. This resulted in a relationship-focused, neurodiversity-affirming, professional development program, Smooth Sailing. This four-week, 12-hour program involved online modules, practice activities focusing on relationship-based activities with the autistic child, and a parent interview intended to solicit information about the child’s likes, dislikes, preferences, and joys. During the course of our project, over 80 teachers have contributed to the program’s development, either as expert consultants or as participants in program trials.
Recently, Smooth Sailing has been tested in what researchers refer to as a “randomized controlled trial.” This simply means that we administered the intervention to one group, while another group waited to participate in the program until the first group finished. Results in the intervention group were compared to the group that didn’t receive the intervention.
Yes, it was effective for teachers, students, and parents. Teachers reported that Smooth Sailing improved student-teacher relationships as well as the quality of caregiver-teacher relationships. In addition, they said that it increased their knowledge of autism. They also reported more confidence in teaching their autistic students than did the teachers who did not receive the program.
Importantly, students whose teachers participated in Smooth Sailing showed significantly greater academic engagement, emotional and behavioral adjustment in the classroom, and social integration. These are a few strategies that autistic students identified as helpful in their teachers. Teachers should:
One goal of Smooth Sailing is to encourage teachers to reach out to parents in a positive, proactive fashion, rather than waiting until there is a problem that the teacher wishes to communicate. Teachers who did so through the Smooth Sailing program, by having an additional meeting with the parent where there was no behavior plan, Individualized Education Program (IEP), or other immediate concern to discuss, showed improvements in their parent-teacher relationships. They reported more positive interactions with parents and more frequent collaboration later.
Parents have much to share with teachers and should not be shy about doing so. Often, all the teachers know about a new student is what is written on the prior year’s IEP. To encourage collaboration, parents may wish to share specific tidbits about their autistic child; for example:
If you are an autistic parent, it might be helpful to disclose that to your child’s teacher. There is growing literature on this topic, suggesting that teachers are unaware that the autistic child in their classroom may have one or both parents who are autistic. If the teacher is learning to be more neurodiversity-affirming, what the teacher has learned should extend to you as well.
Finally, just like your child, teachers love to be told they are doing a great job! Don’t hold back your praise and appreciate the little things they do every day.
Dr. Jan Blacher is known nationally for her research on developmental disabilities and for her expertise in autism and special educational programming. She has served as president of Division 33 (ID and ASD) of the American Psychological Association and as a fellow in research organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A Distinguished Research Professor at University of California, Riverside and UCLA, Dr. Blacher has been director of SEARCH, the Autism Center at UC Riverside. She is executive producer of the award-winning documentary, Autism Goes To College.
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