A Survey of Occupational Therapy Services Provided for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: We examined the services provided to adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by occupational therapists across the United States. Method: This cross-sectional study used an online survey, with a combination of structured and open-ended questions, to collect data from a nonprobability sample. Descriptive, inferential, and nonparametric statistics were used to analyze data. Results: In our sample (N= 57), the majority of the participants spent less than half of their workweek intervening with the adult ASD population. Caregivers were instrumental in both referral and discharge, and Medicaid was the most common payer source. The Adult Sensory Profile was used by more than half of the participants and sensory integration was the most influential model underlying practice (77%). The participants advised new occupational therapists to pursue high quality continuing education courses and formal mentorship from senior colleagues. Conclusion: This study suggests that working with adults with ASD remains a niche area of practice. Further research is needed to examine the pathways to receiving occupational therapy for the adult ASD population

Personal space and friendship in Asperger and neurotypical adolescents

This study investigated the relationship between personal space and friendship in adolescents with Asperger's syndrome (AS) and neurotypical (NT) adolescents living in the Eastern United States. Thirty-seven adolescents with AS and 44 NT adolescents participated in this study. All participants were given the stop-distance procedure to measure their personal space distance with a stranger, and Berndt's Assessment of Friendship Features to measure the quality of their closest friendship and gather information about the demographic characteristics of their three closest friends. Caregivers completed a demographic questionnaire and identified whether or not the adolescent participants frequently violated the personal space of their peers. Relative to the NT group, adolescents with AS did not have significantly different personal space distances on the stop-distance procedure, but demonstrated a greater range of distances. When personal space distances were grouped according to Hall's Proxemics Theory Distance Zones, there were significant differences between the personal space groupings of AS and NT participants, with more AS participants in the intimate zone and social zone than NT participants. On average, adolescents with AS had significantly lower friendship quality scores than NT adolescents; however, these lower scores were not related to personal space distances on the stop-distance procedure or caregiver reported personal space violations. The friends of AS and NT participants were similar in terms of gender and source of the friendship, but differed significantly in age, with AS participants having friends with a larger range of ages than NT participants. These findings indicate that while there are personal space and friendship differences between AS and NT participations, personal space is not a significant determinant of friendship quality or whom adolescents with AS become friends with

BRIEF REPORT Test-Retest Reliability of the Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire

CONCLUSION. This study suggests the SP has acceptable test-retest reliability and internal consistency and supports the use of quadrant scores over factor and section scores to analyze children's sensory processing patterns