Social skills in children with autism through perception of special education teachers in northeast Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the social skills among children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the school environment from the perception of special education teachers. This study was a quantitative study. In this study, a questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data to identify the social skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In this study, researchers had identified five elements that may influence the social skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Skills of Getting Attention, Sharing Skills, Skills of Giving Ideas, Skills of Giving/Receiving Praise/Rewards, and Request and Inquiry Skills. This study involved 39 special education teachers as respondents for the questionnaire. The findings of this study showed that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are still weak in all their social skills except for Request and Inquiry Skills. However, the children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are also found to have the ability in some other social skills as listed in the five categories of social skills as listed in the questionnaire.