Brief Report: Postsecondary Work and Educational Disruptions for Youth on the Autism Spectrum.
Julie Lounds Taylor, Leann Smith DaWalt
PMID 28889215WHAT IT FOUND
Half of 36 young adults with autism had job or college disruption, or did not take part, after leaving high school.
Parents of those later disrupted had more depression, anxiety and lower quality of life before exit; measured youth characteristics did not differ.
Key findings
01Half of the 36 youth either experienced a vocational or educational disruption or never participated after high school exit.
02Parents of youth who later experienced disruption had higher depression and anxiety symptoms and lower quality of life while the youth were in high school.
03No group differences were found for youth IQ, adaptive behavior, autism severity, behavior problems or stress reactivity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 36 families were studied, and the disruption group comparison excluded 2 participants. The sample under-represented families with lower incomes, less education and racial or ethnic diversity. The sample skewed toward youth who were more cognitively-able. Most data were parent-reported, except IQ, which was measured directly. The study followed youth only for a short period after high school exit. The design cannot show whether parental symptoms led to disruption or whether youth instability affected parents.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that helping parents will prevent job or college disruption. This was a small observational study, and it did not test an intervention or show cause.