| There has been a rapid increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Primary areas of deficit for these individuals are social communication interactions and repetitive behaviors. Geneticists have found that environmental stressors, toxins, and social-emotional reactions affect physical and mental health. The study of how these factors affect health is called epigenetics. An epigenetic program that integrates relaxation and generalization of peer interactions to decrease epigenetic mental health problems for students identified as having ASD has been created, but not evaluated until this study. The problem examined was the lack of social skill improvement of students with autism in peer interactions and responses to stressful situations; also, students with autism have difficulty applying learned social skills to settings outside of the autism classroom. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how a program based on epigenetic principles, focusing on improving peer interactions and improving stress responses for students with ASD, was evaluated by the parents of the students and their general education teachers in one suburban North Carolina middle school. The data (parent interviews and teacher responses) were triangulated to find common themes. According to parent and teacher data, stress responses and peer interactions were improved for most students and program evaluations were positive. Future recommendations include finding ways to implement similar programs into other public schools and with additional populations, and integrating future research to include a genetic and epigenetic component by conducting collaborative studies with geneticists and educational professionals. |
