Date Approved

8-13-2018

Embargo Period

8-27-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA Special Education

Department

Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Kuder, Sydney J.

Committee Member 1

Accardo, Amy

Keywords

social interaction; high school students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Subject(s)

Autistic youth; Physical education for children with mental disabilities

Disciplines

Health and Physical Education | Special Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this study focused on the social interaction of high school age students with disabilities in a general physical education setting. The study included two students in tenth grade in an adaptive physical education class. The students attend a high school in a suburban northern New Jersey school district. The two students chosen for this study have a documented diagnosis of autism and are placed in the adaptive physical education class at the high school. The adaptive physical education class is separate from the general physical education classes. All students in this adaptive physical education program have either a 504 plan or an Individualized Education Plan. The main focus of this study was the two students with autism in the adaptive physical education class.

The students were presented with surveys of their knowledge, attitudes, and social interaction in physical education as a pre-test and post-test. Following the pre-test the adaptive physical education students were placed in the general education physical education class. The results showed that both students improved and agreed that social interaction increased as the two classes were combined more often. Both of the students with disabilities grew in all aspects of the findings from the survey that included overall progress, knowledge of the unit of badminton, attitudes, and interaction.

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