Cadena de valor

In this current research TAs talked about their relationships with children who have ASD and the themes that emerged were varied but, on analysis, fell into four distinct areas, namely issues around the nature of the attachment bond to the child; the difficulties the child had and how they impacted upon the relationship; the position of the TA in the relationship; and issues around the impact of the relationship on the TAs themselves in terms of their personal and professional satisfaction.

The experiences of the six TAs were varied but four of the TAs, namely Anna, Beth, Dena and Emma had relationships that I felt were positive and secure. They readily

articulated the themes of trust in the relationship, empathy, the special nature of the relationship and they felt pride in the progress and emotional connection of the pupils. When they talked about conflict or hardship in their relationships, or where they were frustrated by the pupils’ progress or emotional connection to them, they did not let this affect their relationships and they continued to talk positively about the pupils they were supporting. These TAs described, through their experiences, feelings of satisfaction in the relationships even when they reported that they got back relatively little for the time and effort they invested in the pupils they were supporting. For these TAs the relationships meant a lot to them and they felt rewarded when the pupils made progress or connected to them emotionally.

In contrast, Clare and Frances found the relationships with their pupils to be problematic and they articulated ideas that were around the conflict and hardship in the relationships and the frustrations they had with the child’s difficulties, their progress and connecting emotionally with them. Their experiences were generally negative and they felt

dissatisfied with the relationships such that they were happy, even relieved, to move on from them. Their experiences focussed on factors such as the child’s difficulties and, in Frances’ case, feelings of not being supported in school and not having the relevant training or experience. Whilst both of these TAs did report some positive aspects in their relationships the difficulties far outweighed the few rewards for them and so the overall sense they made of their relationships was negative.

In describing their relationships with the pupils I was struck by how the themes that emerged from the TAs’ descriptions were similar to those explored in previous research, which looked at the relationships between teachers, TAs and students with ASD. Where studies used the Student-Teacher Rating Scales (STRS), for example, relationships were referenced against closeness, conflict and dependence and found that, generally, teachers

reported positive relationships with students with ASD but that higher levels of conflict and dependence were related to lower levels of inclusion whilst higher levels of closeness were associated with higher levels of inclusion (Robertson et al., 2003). Indeed, the quality of student-teacher relationships was also related to the students’ behavioural problems (Robertson et al, 2003; Brown & McIntosh, 2012; Blacher et al, 2014), social skills and presenting ASD symptoms (Robertson et al, 2003; Blacher et al, 2014).

This current research found that four of the TAs interviewed reported positive

experiences of their relationships with the pupils with ASD whilst two TAs reported more problematic experiences with their relationships, which is broadly consistent with

previous research that identified that TAs reported positive attitudes towards pupils with ASD (Robertson et al, 2003; Symes & Humphrey, 2011).

The concepts of closeness, conflict and dependence in relationships were ones that I felt were evident in this current study in the TAs’ experiences of their relationships. For example, when the TAs talked of trust, empathy, the special nature of their relationship and togetherness, which were subordinate themes in this research, these were themes describing closeness in the relationship. Where the TAs talked about challenges and hardship in their relationships and focussed negatively on the children’s difficulties, these were describing conflict in broad and rich detail. Where TAs talked about detachment and the need to allow the pupils to develop independence this reflected dependence in their relationship. Whilst it was not appropriate within this current study to attribute causal effects to factors it was relevant to note that the TAs’ data explored themes of closeness, conflict and dependence as well as identifying children’s difficulties as relating to their relationships. These difficulties included references to behaviour, social skills,

communication skills and emotional connection, all of which were describing difficulties usually seen in children and young people with ASD. Indeed, this research found that,

where TAs described positive relationships with the pupils who had ASD, they emphasised the themes that related to closeness in their relationships. Where they had more problematic relationships, they emphasised the themes that related to conflict and difficulty in the relationships. However, the difference in this study was that the detail and richness of the data from the TAs provided a unique insight into their experiences, which previous studies lacked and so this study added to the existing data on TA relationships with pupils who have ASD and addressing an area previously noted as having a lack of research (Saddler, 2014).

5.2.2. Interpreting TAs’ relationships with pupils with ASD in mainstream primary