Daily Living Skills in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder from 2 to 21?Years of Age

SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://sagepub.com

Y

11

National Institute of Mental Health (DHHS/NIH)

1 R01 MH81873-01A1

Daily Living Skills; Autism; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Children; Adolescents; Young Adults; Predictor Variables; Longitudinal Studies; Child Development; Adolescent Development; Nonverbal Communication; Mental Age; Receptive Language; Intervention; Parent Role; Diagnostic Tests; Observation; Adjustment (to Environment); Behavior Rating Scales; Young Children; Cognitive Ability; Motor Development; Clinical Diagnosis; Skill Development; Semi Structured Interviews; Individual Characteristics

Illinois; North Carolina

Mullen Scales of Early Learning; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales

10.1177/1362361315575840

1362-3613

Daily living skills (DLS), such as personal hygiene, meal preparation, and money management, are important to independent living. Research suggests that many individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibit impairments in daily living skills relative to their cognitive skills. This study examined predictors of daily living skills attainment and trajectories of daily living skills in a longitudinal sample referred for possible autism spectrum disorder and followed from 2 to 21?years of age. Consistent with previous studies, participants with autism spectrum disorder and nonspectrum diagnoses showed continual development of daily living skills throughout childhood and adolescence. Early childhood nonverbal mental age was the strongest predictor of daily living skills attainment for both diagnostic groups. Group-based modeling suggested two distinct trajectories of daily living skills development for participants with autism spectrum disorder. Skill levels for both groups of young adults with autism spectrum disorder remained considerably below age level expectations. Whereas the "High-DLS" group gained approximately 12?years in daily living skills from T2 to T21, the "Low-DLS" group's daily living skills improved 3-4?years over the 16- to 19-year study period. Nonverbal mental age, receptive language, and social-communication impairment at 2?years predicted High- versus Low-DLS group membership. Receiving greater than 20?h of parent-implemented intervention before age 3 was also associated with daily living skills trajectory. Results suggest that daily living skills should be a focus of treatment plans for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, particularly adolescents transitioning to young adulthood.

As Provided

33

2015

EJ1075259