Social connectedness and loneliness in school for autistic and allistic children.

The study was done in two special education schools in the Netherlands, where autistic pupils were often with other neurodivergent peers, so the results may not show what happens in mainstream schools. Most participants were not neurotypical: half of the autistic group had another psychiatric/behavioural diagnosis and 35% of the neurodiverse-allistic group had a diagnosis, which may shape social dynamics. The groups differed in age, gender and school distribution, and most autistic pupils were from one school while most neurodiverse-allistic pupils were from the other, so school context may be hard to separate from diagnosis. The loneliness questionnaire has not been formally validated in autistic children, and autistic children may define loneliness differently. RFID only captured face-to-face contacts within 1.5 m, so side-by-side play or talking at a distance may have been missed, and close proximity did not necessarily mean joint social engagement. Peer nominations were limited to school, so friendships outside school were not measured. This was an observational study without randomisation or intervention, so it cannot show that changing the environment or increasing classmate liking would reduce loneliness.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The research was supported by the European Research Council under Horizon 2020 grant agreement No 677270.

Do not conclude that autistic pupils are equally socially connected in all school settings. The comparable physical connectedness was found in two special education schools where autistic pupils were often with other neurodivergent peers, and autistic pupils still had fewer reciprocated friendships.