Identifying Daily Living Skills From Childhood and Adolescence Predictive of Adult Outcomes in a Longitudinal Study of Autism and Related Developmental Conditions.

The prediction analyses were underpowered because the available sample for each adult outcome was smaller than 230, and the authors described these results as exploratory. Attrition reduced the cohort, and people lost to follow-up were more likely to be Black or to have a caregiver with less than a 4-year college degree. The sample had few female participants, so gender differences could not be tested. Caregiver-reported well-being was used, and caregiver and self-report can differ for autistic adults. The Vineland item sets are not normed for separate interpretation, and some sets contained only one item while others contained nine. Data came from two Vineland editions, and only overlapping items were analysed. No data were available on the amount or type of services participants received, so service exposure could not be considered. Friendships and living status were measured as binary variables, which may have contributed to null findings. Some community item sets at age 18 may overlap with employment outcome, including an item about maintaining a job.

One author received royalties from ADOS and ADI-R sales, and royalties generated from this study were donated to a not-for-profit agency, Have Dreams. The other listed author declared no conflicts. The study was funded by the Autism Science Foundation and the National Institute on Aging.

Do not conclude that teaching a specific daily living skill will improve adult outcomes. These are associations from an underpowered exploratory analysis, and no item sets predicted friendships or living independently.