Download or read book Teacher Perception of the Academic Performance and Social Skill Abilities of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder written by Tessa L. Hesse and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developing an understanding of teacher perceptions is important to the informed development of school-based intervention for students with special needs. This study was designed to examine differences and similarities in teacher's perception of students with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) in the classroom compared to students who may exhibit similar attention and executive function disturbances in the classroom, such as children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thirty-seven total teacher reports were collected on 26 children with HFASD and nine children with ADHD, ages 8 to 16 year old. Data was collected via e-mail using the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) questionnaire, which measures social skills, behavior problems, and academic competence. Overall, teachers perceived the HFASD sample as displaying less social competence than the ADHD sample. This perception was carried by a significant diagnostic group effect on the SISS engagement subscale. An analysis of the items on this engagement subscale revealed that teachers were most aware of differences in the items relating to the initiation of engagement, such as "invites others to join activities", or "starts conversations", and these items were sufficient to correctly identify 80.8% of the HFASD sample and 77.8% of the ADHD sample. The SSIS engagement scale was significantly associated with parent reports on the SRS and on the learning problems subscale on the Conners-3. Further, SSIS engagement was positively correlated with teacher ratings of academic competence. The implications for the role and training of mainstream teachers are discussed.