The friendship experiences of Filipino children with autism within Metro Manila during COVID-19

• Main Author: Remoquillo, Patricia Louise Mercado
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Children with autism spectrum disorders > Friends and associates; Friendship; Special Education and Teaching
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_elmd/11; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=etdm_elmd
• Institution: De La Salle University

The current study investigated one aspect of friendship experiences, namely the quality of friendships of children with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder during COVID-19. Six participants, composed of three children with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder and three typical friends, were gathered for this study, and were asked to complete a semi-structured interview adapted from Moore-Dean, Renwick, & Schormans’ (2016) interview questions about friendship experiences of children with intellectual/developmental disabilities in terms of developing and maintaining friends, which was then analyzed through a thematic analysis. The results discovered seven themes, which influenced their friendship experiences: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Costs Versus Rewards, Pair Relatedness, Proximity, Interactions, Relationships, and Forgiveness. Through studying their experiences one can better understand what they are going through, especially in the middle of a global pandemic, since limited studies have been done in order to better understand their perspectives. The themes stated above are further discussed within this paper.