An analysis of the social behaviour of children with autism spectrum disorder in the presence of their grandparents
Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by difficulties in social communication and behaviour as well as restricted or repetitive interests. Families who care for children with ASD must confront these challenges. Grandparents are often active participants of a parent support network for families that have children with ASD. Objectives: This study aims to quantify the social behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 6) and their social sensibility (n = 4) while interacting with their grand-parents. Methods: The participants were observed eight times for 90 minutes. Three different situations were observed: an autonomous activity, a practical task and a social one. Results: The results confirm the tendency of the children with ASD to produce social behaviors in autonomous, practical and social activities. The children of this study have a preference for social behaviors. Besides that, they do not change their behavior in regards to the attention given by the grand-parents. Most of the attention behaviors of the grand-parents is about watching the child during the tasks. It is possible that this reinforcement isn’t substantial enough to be detected by the child with ASD because of their deficit with visual contact. Recommendations are done to facilitate the emergence of social behaviors.