Date
7-15-2024
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Janet Deck
Keywords
autism, social skill development, rural, homeschool, micro-school, social constructivism, natural environment, transition
Disciplines
Education | Special Education and Teaching
Recommended Citation
Bistline, Sondra J., "Social Skill Development in Teenagers with Autism Who Are Homeschooled in Rural Southwest: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experience of Caregivers" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5782.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5782
Abstract
The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to describe the caregiver's lived experience of social skill development in their teenage or young adult students who have autism. Vygotsky's social constructivism theory frames the structure of social development within the student's family, community, and local culture. The central research question guiding this study was, what were the caregivers' lived experiences of social interactions with their homeschooled teenager or young adult diagnosed with autism? All participants were caregivers of teenage or young adult students diagnosed with autism who received all or part of their schooling through homeschooling, micro-schooling, or habilitation services in their home in the rural Southwest United States. Data was collected in person and via electronic means (e.g., video conferencing) through journal writing, individual interviews, and focus groups. Journals, individual interviews, and focus groups were analyzed to triangulate the data to improve the reliability and validity of the data collected. Themes within the caregiver's lived experience were compared with themes that emerged across each caregiver's lived experience to identify effective practices for developing social skills among teenage and young adult students with autism. Themes developed from the data were caregiver resources and challenges, intervention services and planning for the future, and social maturation. By keeping their true natural environment constant during their formative years, teenagers and young adults may have better success at learning functional communication and self-regulation skills, which are foundational to learning social skills. Social skills, in turn, are foundational to successful integration into communities and workplaces and may help alleviate comorbidities of depression and mental illnesses.
