Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan;52(1):463-472.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-04930-z. Epub 2021 Mar 12.

Which Factors Influence Teacher Report of Adaptive Functioning in Autistic Children?

Heather L Moore  1 , Leanne Rogan  2   3   4 , Lauren J Taylor  5   6 , Tony Charman  5 , Ann Le Couteur  7 , Jonathan Green  8   9 , Victoria Grahame  2 ; PACT-G Consortium
Collaborators, Affiliations

Which Factors Influence Teacher Report of Adaptive Functioning in Autistic Children?

Heather L Moore et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

A wealth of parent-report research shows adaptive functioning difficulties in autistic children, with parent-report influenced by a number of child factors. Adaptive functioning in autistic children is known to vary across settings; however, no research has yet explored factors influencing education professional-report. This study investigated the rate and profile of impairment, and child factors influencing education professional-reported adaptive skills in 248 autistic children. Twelve children were < 3 years (min age for available normative data on the adaptive function measure), so were removed from the analyses. Results replicated parent-literature; adaptive skills were negatively associated with age and informant-reported autism severity, and positively associated with nonverbal ability and expressive language. Adaptive functioning is important for real-world outcomes, e.g. educational attainment, independence, and support needs. Improving our understanding of adaptive functioning in the education context may support opportunities for shared learning and enhance personalised support .

Keywords: Adaptive functioning; Autism; Behaviour; Teacher report.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alvares GA, Bebbington K, Cleary D, Evans K, Glasson EJ, Maybery MT, et al. The misnomer of 'high functioning autism': Intelligence is an imprecise predictor of functional abilities at diagnosis. Autism. 2020;24(1):221–232. doi: 10.1177/1362361319852831. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brady BA, Tucker CM, Harris YR, Tribble I. Association of academic achievement with behavior among black students and white students. The Journal of Educational Research. 1992;86(1):43–51. doi: 10.1080/00220671.1992.9941826. - DOI
    1. Chandler S, Howlin P, Simonoff E, O'Sullivan T, Tseng E, Kennedy J, et al. Emotional and behavioural problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 2016;58(2):202–208. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.12830. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Corp I. IBM SPSS statistics for windows. 24. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp; 2016.
    1. De Bildt A, Sytema S, Kraijer D, Sparrow S, Minderaa R. Adaptive functioning and behaviour problems in relation to level of education in children and adolescents with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 2005;49(9):672–681. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2005.00711.x. - DOI - PubMed