About this session

Friday, 4:40 PM - 6:10 PM

Tracking Social Dynamics: Objective Measurement of Movement and Interaction in Children with and without ASD

Understanding how children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in social interactions is essential for fostering supportive educational environments. This symposium presents research combining methods from behavioral science and statistical physics to elucidate the behavioral building blocks of social interactions. Moving beyond traditional observational methods, these studies capture objective, continuous data on social interactions among children and adolescents across classroom and playground settings. Importantly, this research promotes social justice by demonstrating the ways in which all children, regardless of neurodevelopmental differences, can thrive in inclusive spaces.

The symposium features four studies using wearable sensors to explore social engagement dynamics. The first introduces a system that quantifies social synchrony in autistic and non-autistic students, showing consistent individual and group differences. The second investigates preschoolers in inclusive classrooms, finding that children with ASD show a heightened preference for engaging with teachers, while peer interactions are diminished. The third explores the proportion of time not engaged in social contact, showing that children with ASD may experience more social isolation, including on the playground. The fourth focuses exclusively on the playground, demonstrating that while non-autistic children’s feelings of connectedness are tied to peer contact, autistic children prioritize being seen and accepted over frequent interaction.

These studies offer new insight into the social experiences of children with and without ASD by capturing individual differences and group dynamics in children’s natural settings. They reveal subtle differences in interaction patterns, which may inform interventions that support the varied social needs of all children.

Paper #1
Title	Wearable sensors can track social interaction in groups of autistic and non-autistic children
Presenting author	Antonia Hamilton, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, United Kingdom

Paper #2
Title	Children’s Social Preference for Teachers versus Peers in Autism Inclusion Classrooms: An Objective Perspective
Presenting author	Madison Drye, University of Miami, United States

Paper #3
Title	Objective Measures of Time Spent Apart from Others in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms for Autism
Presenting author	Michael Siller, Ph.D., Emory School of Medicine; Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; University of North Texas, United States

Paper #4
Title	Feeling socially connected in autistic & allistic children; Can sensors indicate social connectedness at school playgrounds
Presenting author	Dr. Carolien Rieffe, Leiden University; University of Twente; University College London, Netherlands

View all paper details

Session chairs
Madison Drye, University of Miami, United States; Daniel Messinger, Ph.D., , United States

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