Autism in the Classroom: Educational Issues across the Lifespan

This chapter reviews educational strategies and legal policies impacting effective schooling for children, youth, and young adults. Emphasis is on the classroom manifestation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and how general education teachers can effectively facilitate learning. Within early school years, the importance of positive student-teacher relationships (STRs) in the face of challenging behaviors is discussed, including ways to build positive STRs. In middle and high school, social relationships serve as protective factors against mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety). Literature on this topic, including issues related to bullying, is presented. In postsecondary settings, young adults with ASD continue to have poor outcomes (e.g. loneliness, unemployment); strategies for helping adolescents transition to adulthood is discussed. While there are many other aspects to educational program appropriate for individuals with ASD (e.g., curriculum content), this chapter highlights recent issues that may be informative to a wide audience—school teachers and staff, researchers, and parents

The early impact of COVID-19 on the intellectual and developmental disabilities community in California

IntroductionDuring the early beginnings of COVID-19, service providers were forced to close their doors and move their services online, causing significant disruptions for many families and communities, such as those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In this study, we examined the extent to which COVID-19 disrupted services for the IDD community in California.MethodsSecondary data were analyzed from a survey (N = 1,082) disseminated by the Autism Society of California in May 2020. Respondents were placed into two categories: autism spectrum disorder (ASD) only (n = 794) and IDD other than ASD (n = 288).ResultsThere were significant differences in services between diagnostic groups (<.05). There was a threefold difference in loss of respite services in the ASD (4.3%) versus the IDD group (12.9%). In the ASD group, 48.5% reported no change at all in respite services received, whereas in the IDD group, 71.5% reported no change. Before the pandemic, a higher mean number of medical and therapeutic services was reported as received in the ASD group (M = 1.38) than in the IDD group (M = 1.04). However, at the time of the survey, the IDD group reported a higher mean number of such services (M = 1.32) than the ASD group (M = 1.02). Differences were also seen by race/ethnicity. Before lockdown, there were no significant differences in the mean number of services reported by race/ethnicity among the full sample. However, at the time of the survey, a significantly higher mean number of services was reported by respondents who identified as White (M = 1.26) compared to people of color (M = .91), p < .05.DiscussionTo our knowledge, this study is the first to compare services received by IDD diagnostic groups during COVID-19. Findings help elucidate the negative impact of COVID-19 on the IDD community in California, as well as inform strategies for the ongoing and post-pandemic periods

General health status of youth with autism with and without intellectual disabilities transitioning from special education, and its relationship to personal and family circumstances:Longitudinal cohort study

Objective: Transition from school to early adulthood incurs many changes and may be associated with deterioration in general health in youth with autism. We aimed to investigate this. Method: The National Longitudinal Transitions Study-2 is a USA nationally representative sample of youth receiving special education services, aged 13–17 at wave 1, followed-up over 10 years in five data collection waves. We conducted random-effects ordered logistic regressions to determine the odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals of wave, age, sex, ethnicity/race, additional intellectual disabilities, parental/guardian relationship status, and household income being associated with general health status in youth with autism. Results: Across waves, only between 74.3%–69.6% had excellent/very good health (71.7%–58.8% in those with co-occurring intellectual disabilities), but wave was not associated with health status. Associations were with age OR = 1.18 (1.04, 1.33), co-occurring intellectual disabilities OR = 1.56 (1.00, 2.44), and household income OR = 0.61 (0.40, 0.94) at $30,001–$50,000, OR = 0.44 (0.27, 0.72) at $50,001–$70,000, and OR = 0.34 (0.20, 0.56) at $70,001+. Sex, ethnicity/race, and parental/guardian relationship status were not associated with health status. Conclusion: There was little change in general health status longitudinally across the transitional period, but the proportion with excellent/very good health was low at each wave. Transitional planning should consider co-occurring intellectual disabilities, and the wider socioeconomic context in which children/youth with autism are raised. Lack of other longitudinal studies indicates a need for replication

General health status in young people with intellectual disabilities with and without Down syndrome in, and transitioning from, special education: findings from the National Longitudinal Transitions Study‐2

Background: There has been little prior investigation of the general health of young people with intellectual disabilities across transition, nor separately for youth with intellectual disabilities with or without Down syndrome, despite general health being a strong predictor of subsequent health service use, hospital admissions and mortality in the general population. We aimed to investigate general health status in youth with intellectual disabilities with and without Down syndrome over the transitional period and quantify the extent to which personal characteristics, parental relationship and household income are associated with general health status. Methods: The National Longitudinal Transitions Study‐2 includes a nationally representative sample of youth receiving special education services aged 13–17 years at wave 1, followed up over 10 years in five waves of data collection. Data on general health status of youth with intellectual disabilities with and without Down syndrome were obtained from parent reports. We summarised overall demographics and general health status and plotted general health status for those who had health data available for all five waves. We then used random‐effects ordered logistic regression to investigate whether wave of data collection, age, sex, Down syndrome, ethnicity, parental relationship status and household income are associated with general health status. Results: At wave 1, data on intellectual disabilities were available on 9008/9576 (94.1%) young people, and 871/9008 (9.7%) of them had intellectual disabilities, of whom 125/871 (14.4%) had Down syndrome. Youth with intellectual disabilities with or without Down syndrome had low rates of excellent or very good health. Across waves 1–5, there was a shallow gradient in the proportion of youth with intellectual disabilities reporting excellent/very good health, from 57.7% at 13–17 years to 52.6% at 21–25 years, being more marked for those without Down syndrome (57.8% at 13–17 years to 51.8% at 21–25 years). However, contrary to our expectations, an ordinal measure of general health status did not decline over this transitional period and did not differ between youth with and without Down syndrome. There was a gradient with higher income associated with better health, significantly so over $50 001 (odds ratio = 0.559, 95% confidence interval 0.366–0.854). Poorer health was experienced by youth with Hispanic, Latino or Spanish ethnicity (odds ratio = 1.790, 95% confidence interval 1.051–3.048). Female sex and parental relationship status were not associated with health status. Conclusions: Young people with intellectual disabilities have bad health, and require support across all ages, including transition. Schools, teachers and staff in transitional services should consider health, and health care and support during transitional planning due to change in service provision and be aware of ethnicity and the stressful effects of low household income. This is important as interventions based on provision of greater support can prevent adverse consequences

Co-Occurring Behavior Problems in Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Developmental Perspective

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the nature of behavior problems at crucial stages of development. Following a brief overview of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), including the expression of co-occurring behaviors in these populations, two related studies are presented. Both studies utilized the instruments of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessments (ASEBA; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000; 2001) to describe behavior problems, as observed during early childhood to adolescence. Study 1 utilized a sample of young children, ages 5 years and under, deemed at risk of a developmental disorder who were referred to a university-based screening clinic to be assessed for possible ASD. The objective of Study 1 was to empirically identify homogenous classes of emotional and behavioral syndromes during early childhood. Using latent class analysis, results revealed that behaviors clustered into two classes: a highly behavioral class characterized by emotion dysregulation difficulties (56%) and a normative class (44%). Predictors of autism classification and severity were included in the analysis but yielded no significant effects. These findings highlight the need to assess emotional regulation issues prior to formal schooling and to provide emotion-focused interventions that may foster the use of effective coping strategies. Study 2 utilizes a sample of children and adolescents with and without ID from a NICHD-funded longitudinal study (PIs: Bruce L. Baker, Jan Blacher, & Keith Crnic). The aim of Study 2 was (a) to examine the trajectory of behavior problems from ages g to 15 and (b) to explore whether a transactional relationship exists between behavior problems and social skills over these time points. Controlling for disability status, results of a fitted path analysis model revealed that ratings of behavior problems (internalizing and externalizing) and social skills were highly stable over time. A behavior-driven model fit the data best and revealed that behaviors in early adolescence significantly contributed to later social difficulties. Findings illustrate how challenging behaviors may impact emerging social competence during adolescent years. Implications for practice and future research directions are discussed

General Education Teachers' Perceptions of Autism, Inclusive Practices, and Relationship Building Strategies.

To identify target areas for professional development, this mixed-methods study examined general education teachers' perceptions of autism and pedagogical practices in early elementary classrooms in the United States. In focus groups, teachers (N = 18) identified terms they associated with autism and strategies they used for inclusion and relationship building. Participants systematically free-listed and ranked their responses to three prompts. Using ranked responses, saliency scores were calculated to assess the perceived importance and frequency of responses. Teachers' most salient perceptions of autism (e.g., social difficulties, focused/fixed interests) revealed an awareness of core symptoms. Salient inclusion practices included assigning special classroom responsibilities and showcasing student talents; salient relationship-building strategies included embracing students' special interests and engaging in one-on-one time. Implications for teacher trainings are discussed