Preliminary efficacy of a daily living skills intervention for adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.
Amie Duncan, Lisa A Ruble, Jareen Meinzen-Derr and 2 others
PMID 28914086WHAT IT FOUND
Seven adolescents with high-functioning autism completed a 12-week group program teaching daily living skills.
Participants showed significant improvement in cooking, laundry, and morning routines, with gains maintained at six-month follow-up. Money management skills improved less, suggesting this area needs more practice time.
Key findings
01Participants demonstrated statistically significant improvement in Daily Living Skills raw scores and age equivalence scores from baseline to post-treatment, particularly in the Domestic subdomain.
02All seven adolescents showed improved functioning on individualized Goal Attainment Scale scores across all four targeted areas at post-treatment and six-month follow-up.
03The intervention was feasible, with a 94% mean attendance rate and high helpfulness ratings from both parents and adolescents.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was a small pilot with only seven participants and no control group, so it cannot determine if the intervention caused the improvements. Outcome measures were based solely on parent report, which may introduce bias if parents felt pressured to report positive results. The assessors were not blind to the study's purpose. The sample was highly motivated, which may limit generalizability to less engaged families. Money management skills showed less improvement, possibly because they were introduced late in the program and are more complex.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant improvements as proof that the STRW intervention works better than usual care or no intervention. This was a small pilot without a control group, so the observed gains could be due to natural development, increased parental attention, or expectation bias rather than the specific treatment components.