A Meta-Analysis of Self-Management Interventions in Teaching Daily Living Skills to Autistic Individuals.
Orhan Aydin, Mehmet D Sulu, Ceren Ari-Arat
PMID 38709359WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic participants showed gains in daily living skills across 15 single-case self-management studies, but study quality was weak and community living skills were not tested.
Key findings
01Fifteen single-case studies involving 31 autistic individuals tested self-management for daily living skills, mainly personal, domestic, and hygiene tasks.
02The overall effect was very large by Tau-U (0.93) and moderate by PCES (0.99), but only one study met WWC standards without reservations.
03Generalization and maintenance were measured in only nine studies, and the authors said they could not make conclusions about these phases.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The review included only 15 single-case studies and 31 autistic individuals, so the evidence base is small. Only one study met WWC standards without reservations, and six did not meet design standards. Most studies were researcher-delivered and one-to-one, not embedded in classrooms, homes, or community settings. No included study tested community living skills, so the review cannot guide money, time, or transportation goals. Generalization and maintenance were assessed in only nine studies, with few data points, and the authors could not draw conclusions about them. The search protocol was not registered, and moderator analyses were not possible because of the limited number of studies.
Declared interests
Funding was provided by Erzincan Binali Yildirim University. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the very large Tau-U result as proof that self-management works for all autistic people in daily life. The effect came from 15 small single-case studies, only one fully met quality standards, and the authors could not conclude about generalization or maintenance.