Social-Emotional Services in Autistic Students’ IEPS: Relation Between Service Minutes, Age, and Parent-Reported Social Responsiveness

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Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between autistic students’ age and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) scores, as reported by the parent, on the time spent per week on social-emotional learning (SEL) goals. The data was collected from 43 participating families who had an IEP in the Massachusetts area and was analyzed through multiple regression. Two regression analyses were conducted – one where the outcome variable of time-per-week was log-transformed because of non-normality, and another, where zeroes were removed from the log-transformed outcome. These analyses found no statistically significant results for the relationship between the predictors and the outcome variables at the p < .05 level. These results raise questions about the efficacy of goals and services outlined in IEPs for autistic students. Limitations of this analysis include a relatively small sample size, a non-negligible percentage of the time data was nonexistent in the IEP (thus, coded as zeroes), and a non-normal distribution of the outcome variable when non-transformed. More research is needed to make a definitive conclusion on the relationship between SRS, age, and time spent on SEL goals.

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