More Autistic Teens Need Early Intervention to Learn the Life Skills Needed for Adulthood
As more children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make the transition to adulthood, researchers in the Division of Developmental and Behavior Pediatrics are finding that many need early intervention strategies to facilitate a successful transition.
Researchers Amie Duncan, PhD, and Somer Bishop, PhD, studied the daily living skills (DLS) of 417 autistic teens ages 10 to 17 with average intelligence (IQ of 85 or higher). Daily living skills include activities such as taking a shower, getting dressed, cooking, doing laundry, managing finances, and navigating the community. The researchers were surprised to find that more than half of these high functioning teens exhibited DLS abilities that were “significantly below” expectations based on their intellectual abilities.
“There is clearly a need to address the substantial gap between cognitive ability and actual performance in activities of daily living,” says Duncan, whose study was published Dec. 15, 2014 in Autism. “Addressing these skills prior to the transition to adulthood is crucial if we expect young adults to have the necessary skills to live independently.”
Interestingly, being older and having more social-communication impairments accounted for only 10 percent of the DLS deficit – a finding that raises hope that adolescents with high functioning ASD have the potential to acquire age-appropriate life skills regardless of the severity of their autism symptoms.
Duncan and Bishop theorize that other factors are involved in autistic teens’ abilities to acquire daily living skills; factors that include executive functioning or language capabilities, the number of siblings in the family, the emotional well-being of caregivers, socioeconomic status, race, availability of community and school support services, and involvement in extracurricular activities.
Interventions that support the development of critical daily living skills may increase the likelihood that individuals with ASD can achieve positive outcomes in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living.
