Proyecciones metodológicas y consideraciones conceptuales

5.1. What sorts o f difficulties do young people with A S commonly experience in a social setting? Hypothesis 3 was that the ratings that the young people with

Asperger's syndrome gave to the "unusual" behaviour in each vignette would differ from ratings given by the control group.

5.1.1. Vignettes: Data to answer this question were gathered from vignettes, where participants were asked to comment on the behaviour o f the friends in the story. The spread o f the responses was not sufficiently close to a normal distribution for parametric statistics to be used. The mean responses o f the two groups, AS and Mainstream were therefore compared using a Mann Whitney U. The results o f the two groups are presented in table 3.

In general, each story contained some behaviour that was not unusual and some that was. No directional predictions were made about the responses between the two groups. On occasion, people with AS may seem indifferent to the social norms but they may also be particularly conservative in their adherence to particular standards o f behaviour (Dewey, 1991) and this made a directional prediction difficult.

As can be seen, on one o f the six stories, there was no statistically significant difference in the responses between the two groups on either o f the two behaviours that they were asked about. On five stories, however, there was a statistically significant difference in the rating o f one o f the two behaviours. A full table o f results is set out below.

Table 5 - Comparison o f ratings given to the Vignettes

Stories Item

AS

Mean rank MS

Mean rank U p-value

Story 1 Kicked the ball 19.85 20.16 187.00 .84

Pushed him 15.82 24.39 106.50 .02

Story 2 Took pizza 14.76 24.24 90.50 .01

Outraged 19.84 19.16 174.00 .81

Story 3 Swore about game 16.77 23.39 125.50 .04

Lent game 19.13 20.92 172.50 .54

Story 4 Had sore throat 21.16 17.84 149.00 .29

Dismissed illness 18.11 19.84 155.00 .61

Story 5 Too much aftershave 16.25 19.47 124.00 .30

Said too much 14.79 21.82 98.50 .04

Story 6 Left at club 19.47 17.63 145.00 .57

Complained about it 15.38 21.29 108.50 .03

As the table shows, the mainstream group rated certain behaviours as being significantly more strange than did the AS group. How might the explanations that individuals gave for their ratings shed light on these differences?

On the first vignette, about the boy who pushed his firiend in retaliation for an accidental hurt, some o f the AS group seemed to have no sense o f the moral content o f the actions, as this reply illustrates:

"Not at all strange - there was an accident, wasn't it and they were just generally squabbling because he kicked the ball at him and he didn’t mean to" (A21/Y)

Some o f those who rated the behaviour in the reasonable range seemed to be drawing on their own social experiences:

" A little strange but a fairly typical reaction if someone is hurt" (A11/0)

On the second vignette, the boy who left his friend to watch the video alone, taking his half o f the pizza, this comment was echoed by several o f the AS group:

"Not at all strange: he wasn't liking the film, so why stay?" (A5/Y).

Some participants identified that it was not appropriate behaviour and suggested alternative ways o f managing the situation - although, as this example shows, these, too, were fairly crude: -

"Bit peculiar, just leaving like that. Probably "C". Just walking off like that. It isn’t something you do. If you're good friends you just tell them to change the video or something and they do it. " (A12/0)

In general, however, the AS group were less shocked by the behaviour than the mainstream group, several o f whom laughed at the improbability (they said) o f anyone both flouting the social conventions and so blatantly disregarding the feelings o f their friend.

On the third vignette where the boy cursed his broken Gameboy, most o f the AS participants said that they felt that this was just how someone would behave in those circumstances. Several o f the mainstream group, however, felt that the reaction was

overly dramatic and mildly embarrassing. This suggests that they felt that the wailing boy should have been more aware o f how he would look to others but that the AS group considered less what others might think.

The fifth vignette was about the girl who commented on the strong after-shave o f her new neighbour. Some o f the AS group said that she was merely stating a fact and (by implication) there was nothing wrong with that. As one said:

"it's not strange if she thinks it's strong" (A11/0), although another observed that it was

" a little strange - she has no tact" (A13/0) a view that was reflected in a few o f the responses.

Some felt that she was just making conversation eg:

"It sounds like she's just trying to start a conversation - probably fancies him" (A12/0)

an observation that was also made by one of the mainstream group. As the difference in the scores shows, however, more o f the AS group seemed unaware o f the embarrassment that such a remark might cause to another person.

The sixth vignette, about the boy who was left to make his own way at the youth club raises some issues in common with the earlier ones. These are: the inappropriate apportionment o f blame, a failure to see that the fi'iend might have his own ideas o f what he wanted to do and the excessive and perhaps rather embarrassing outburst. In addition, it concerns an unfamiliar social situation, which for someone with AS could be particularly alarming. This AS participant's account sheds some light upon how that aspect o f the situation might impact upon his behaviour: -

R "Actually, it's unfair, leaving his friend there in the middle, especially like being placed in the middle of nowhere and you don't know your way around. And he feels shy and nervous to actually even go up to anyone and say: Hello What's your name? Because his friend's just left him standing there, which is very annoying."

I "And what about the second bit, what he says to his friend?"

R "That's not strange. If that was me, I would have said that. What the hell or whatever did you leave me on my own. I don't know any o f these people. I'm not going to be friends again. I'm just not going to see you. I won't accept that. This is, like, out o f order." (A17)

This suggests that, when anxious, it may be particularly hard for the person with AS to process all the issues pertinent to a social situation.

It was perhaps surprising that, on the first two vignettes where the AS and mainstream participants gave different ratings, this rating was not reflected in the ratings that they gave to the reciprocal behaviour in that story. So, for example, although the AS group thought that the behaviour o f the boy who left with half the pizza was less strange than the mainstream group did, they were no more surprised than the mainstream group by the friend's expression o f outrage. It may be that emotional outbursts have less salience for them. It is not clear whether this likely to be a function o f their cognitive profile or o f their social experiences.

5.1.2. Staff and parent information about the social difficulties offriendship

Staff and parents completed a Likert scaled questionnaire that explored how three models o f autism might impact upon the friendship behaviour o f a young person with AS. As noted above, the questionnaire was not vahdated and was intended only to explore the possible impact o f each o f the postulated deficits o f autism on friendship behaviour. The average o f the item scores for each o f the dimensions was computed to achieve a score for each dimension. The mean scores for each dimension is set out in the table below: -

Table 6 - Frequencies o f particular behaviours noted by staff and parents

n min max mean SD

Executive 30 3.17 5.00 4.05 0.44

ToM 30 2.33 5.00 3.80 0.60

Affective 30 2.00 4.50 3.31 0.63

(Items were rated on a 5 point scale, where 5= strongly agree this behaviour occurs; through 3= not sure; to 1= do not agree this behaviour occurs)

The scores suggest that the staff and parents rated friendship difficulties that are associated with a deficit in executive functioning as occurring most frequently, and theory o f mind difficulties as being the next most common. They were most ambivalent about the role o f an affective deficit in friendship difficulties. As noted in the Method section, for the Executive and Affective parts o f the scale, reliability cannot be assumed.

The vignette in which one boy pushed his friend described an intemperate response to an accidental knock with the football. On the Likert questionnaire, parents and staff were asked if the person with AS would tend to blame their friend if things went wrong in a friendship interaction. This yielded a range o f responses (perhaps linked to the imprecise wording) with most respondents saying that they did not know. In

the more open-ended part o f the questionnaire, however, one parent described very similar behaviour:

"Would always blame the friend even if the fall out was due to a misunderstanding or an accidental blow." (P2/Y)

Other parents also described occasions when the response o f the AS individual seemed disproportionate to the trigger.

Both the pizza vignette and the youth club vignette described circumstances where one friend wanted to do something that the other did not. Staff and parents were asked in the Likert questionnaire if the young person with AS found it hard to compromise if their friend wanted to do something different from them and most replied either that they agreed or agreed strongly. This issue was also raised in response to the qualitative questions and common observations were: -

"They do enjoy interaction with others but this is often only on their terms - meeting their needs - only playing the games they want to and on their terms. They will often wander off when they have got bored or will argue when challenged with turn taking or the social rules o f the situation." (S2)

"He tries to play with others but will only play what he wants, not anything else. If they play by his rules, all is well." (P12/Y)

The pizza vignette, in particular, describes an apparent indifference to the social norms and to the other person's view but, as this parent's account suggests, this may well stem from an underlying social deficit: -

"...though he is pleased to see the friend...he needs constant reminding to stay with him. After twenty minutes, he will be elsewhere, doing something alone. I then talk to him about friends doing things together and he says: "Yes, you're right", goes back for another twenty minutes and the cycle repeats." (P I0/0)

The vignette about the girl commenting frankly upon the excessive usage o f after shave by a new acquaintance describes a comment that could have been very hurtful for the recipient. When asked on the Likert questionnaire if the person with AS found it difficult to see another person’s point o f view, most respondents either agreed or agreed strongly that this was the case. A common observation o f parents and staff was that the AS group had limited insight into the effects o f their words and actions. One parent described bad language and name calling and concluded: -

"He has no clue as to the offence or hurt he causes." (P9/0)

A lack o f insight into the feelings o f others may not be the only factor operating here, however. The pragmatics o f social communication may be very hard indeed for the AS group, as this parent’s account illustrates: -

"Knowing what to say or how to behave is definitely a difficulty....he actually said to me: "the thing with meeting a friend, once you’ve said hello, it’s difficult to know what to say next." I’m aware that he does rehearse conversations to cope better in these situations." (P8/Y)

This difficulty can be exacerbated by emotional arousal: -

"Behaviour when excited is inappropriate for his peers, also he can say what he thinks and straight to the point. He often offends people ’’ (P9/0)

This is pertinent to the youth club vignette, where one friend was left to manage alone in a strange social situation.

5.1.3. Postscript

This study was concerned only with non-sexual, same sex friendships. Nevertheless, the difficulties that the AS group experience in their friendships will also have an impact in a sexual context. Several staff described AS boys naively using very

inappropriate language or physical contact with the opposite sex and then being amazed at their negative response. The implications o f this behaviour are potentially very serious. The following account describes the behaviour o f a sixteen-year old.

"One o f the....students thought that, in order to get a girlfriend he had to approach her and fondle her breasts (before introducing herself)! We had to talk to him at great length after this - he had just never been taught the courtship process and it was apparent that he was unable to leam by observing others." (S9)

It may be that the young person with AS is especially vulnerable to getting it wrong in a sexual context because the situation is particularly demanding o f their executive skills. As well as needing to process and respond to inputs from the environment, they are also having to integrate their own physical and emotional responses to the situation. This carries risks for all concerned. Although it is beyond the scope o f this study to do more than allude to this issue in passing, it is one that will be returned to in the Recommendations section o f the Discussion, below.

5.2. Summary o f the results on Research Question 4

To summarise this section, on five o f the six vignettes, there was a significant difference between the accounts o f the AS and the mainstream groups. Further information about how the AS group had processed the stories emerged in the interviews and it seems likely that the differences are attributable to their particular cognitive style - although, in some case, their social experiences may also have played a part. Data from the questionnaires suggested that the AS group encounter similar difficulties in real life situations.

Chapter 4