Student, Educator, and Parent Perspectives of Self-Determination in High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Brianne Tomaszewski, Bonnie Kraemer, Jessica R Steinbrenner and 4 others
PMID 32743977WHAT IT FOUND
Students with autism rated their own self-determination abilities much higher than their parents and teachers did.
Teachers reported giving students more opportunities at school than the students felt they had. Adaptive behavior was the strongest predictor of self-determination across all three groups.
Key findings
01Students reported significantly higher self-determination ability scores than educators and parents, who did not differ from each other.
02Teachers reported significantly more opportunities for self-determination at school than students or parents did.
03Adaptive behavior was a significant positive predictor of self-determination capacity and opportunities across all three reporter groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample came from three specific US states, so results may not generalize to other regions. There was significant missing data, particularly from parents and students with lower adaptive behavior or higher autism severity, which may bias results toward higher-functioning students. The study is cross-sectional, so it identifies associations rather than proving that changing adaptive behavior or family factors will directly improve self-determination. Self-determination was measured by the AIR-SDS, which relies on subjective ratings; students may lack the insight to accurately rate their own capacity, or adults may lack the context to rate opportunities outside their own setting.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a student's high self-rating of self-determination reflects actual ability or opportunity. Students rated themselves significantly higher than their teachers and parents did, and teachers rated their own provision of opportunities higher than students perceived. Relying on a single informant, especially the student's self-report alone, may overestimate readiness for transition planning.