Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0001-5525-8688

Date of Award

12-31-2025

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Abbey Eisenhower

Second Advisor

Jan Blacher

Third Advisor

Alice Carter

Abstract

School environments frequently serve as a source of socialization but also stigma and socioemotional distress for autistic students. Against this backdrop, teachers can be crucial sources of neurodiversity-affirming views and support. Teachers’ perceptions of students can also shape the quality of their relationships with students and students’ emotional and behavioral adjustment in school. This study focused on understanding how general education teachers perceive autistic students and how these perceptions shape their students’ school experiences. This study sought to investigate the degree to which teachers endorsed three dimensions of neurodiversity-affirming perceptions of their autistic students: (a) strength/deficit-based, (b) holistic/reductionist, and (c) social/medical model of disability. Next, this study sought to explore how the degree of endorsement for each of these neurodiversity-affirming perceptions might be associated with their student-teacher relationship quality and their students' socioemotional well-being. Finally, this study sought to assess how the degree of endorsement for these three dimensions of neurodiversity-affirming perceptions combine to predict student-teacher relationship quality and students’ socioemotional well-being. Participants included 99 K-2 general education teachers with at least one autistic student in their classroom, all enrolled from 2021 to 2025 in an autism professional development program. The degree of teachers' neurodiversity-affirming perceptions was coded based on their written responses when asked to write a description of their autistic student; these codes captured the degree to which these responses reflect strength/deficit-based perceptions, holistic/reductionist perceptions, and social/medical models of disability. Teachers rated student-teacher relationship quality using the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) and students’ socioemotional well-being using both the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) and the BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). The majority of teachers’ responses were neutral to strength-based and partially to fully holistic, though the plurality aligned with the medical model of disability. Following a multivariate regression analysis, the strength-based holistic composite emerged as a significant predictor of student-teacher conflict (β = -.34, p < .001) and closeness (β = .25, p = .02), as well as students’ social behaviors (β = .41, p < .001), emotional behaviors (β = .39, p < .001), externalizing problems (β = -.32, p < .001), and internalizing problems (β = -.28, p .003). Another multivariate regression analysis revealed that the social/medical model dimension emerged as a significant predictor of student-teacher conflict (β = -.30, p = .002), as well as students’ social behaviors (β = .23, p = .02), externalizing problems (β = -.27, p = .007), and internalizing problems (β = -.21, p = .03). When considered together in a combined model, only the strength-based holistic composite remained significant in predicting student-teacher conflict (β = -.26, p = .02) and students’ social behaviors (β = .39, p < .001), emotional behaviors (β = .43, p < .001), externalizing problems (β = -.25, p = .02), and internalizing problems (β = -.23, p = .03). Findings extend the growing body of research advocating for the value of neurodiversity-affirming frameworks, specifically in educational settings. The present study emphasizes the importance of strength-based, holistic, and social model perceptions by teachers, and their links with more favorable relational and socioemotional well-being for autistic students.

Comments

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