Читать книгу Launching Your Autistic Youth to Successful Adulthood - Katharina Manassis - Страница 11

Now that we’ve spelled out transitional problems, let’s start looking at some solutions! As the creation of a positive transition to adulthood is the main topic of this book, only a brief summary of positive predictors is provided here, with more detail in subsequent chapters. Coury and colleagues (2014) reviewed key predictors of autistic youths’ success in obtaining paid employment and in completing post-secondary education. For paid employment after high school, these included:

• paid employment while still in high school

• greater independence with self-care

• greater responsibilities around the house

• greater adaptive behaviors and daily living skills

• parents’ expectations of paid employment and self-sufficiency in adulthood.

Additional predictors found by other authors (Chiang et al. 2013; Roux et al. 2013) include:

• high school graduation

• having older parents

• higher-income households

• higher parental education

• better social and conversational skills

• career counseling in high school.

Predictors of success in post-secondary education in Coury et al.’s (2014) review included:

• high school course work which was on a diploma track (versus courses leading to a more basic high school completion certificate)

• high academic performance

• high scores on college entrance exams

• participation in extracurricular activities

• experience of the daily living skills needed on campus (including socialization and technology use)

• good executive functions

• participation in innovative transitional programs (one example of these is dual enrollment programs where students do some college courses during their final years of high school special education programs).

Comfort around disclosing or not disclosing one’s disability in various contexts, and the ability to advocate for appropriate disability-related accommodations for oneself, are further skills which were considered helpful for college.

Additional predictors found by other authors (Anderson, Carter and Stephenson 2018; Briley, Harden and Tucker-Drob 2014) include:

• positive parental expectations

• early disclosure of disability (allowing early access to supports).

Before you rush out to address all of the factors listed, recognize that research in this area is limited and, for several reasons, results may need to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. First, the association between a factor (say, high parental income) and an outcome (say, paid employment) may or may not be causal. For example, high family income may result in better transitional supports and therefore better outcomes, or highly competent youth with ASD may require fewer transitional interventions and start earning money quickly, reducing the financial burden to families. Alternatively, a third factor (e.g. high parental education) may account for both high parental income and a better chance of obtaining paid employment for the youth. In short, a factor associated with an outcome does not necessarily cause it.

Second, most studies reviewed are cross-sectional, meaning all factors are measured at one point in time. In order to conclude that one thing leads to another, a longitudinal study which follows large numbers of youth over many years is much more convincing than a cross-sectional one. Unfortunately, longitudinal studies are very expensive, so they are rarely done.

Third, just because a finding holds true for a large number of autistic youth doesn’t mean it will necessarily apply to your son or daughter. Each individual on the autism spectrum is unique, with different strengths, weaknesses, personal history, hopes, fears, and sources of motivation. As a parent, you know about these unique characteristics and can interpret the research evidence in that light.

Nevertheless, there are some common themes among these factors which may make a difference in relation to your child. Several factors highlight the benefits of early preparation for adulthood. For example, working in high school predicts later work, diploma-track courses in high school predict post-secondary education, and so on. Perhaps you can foster one or more of these factors if your child is still in high school. Several factors focus on independent living skills. These include independent self-care, chores or other responsibilities around the house, and daily living skills needed to live on campus. Developing your child’s routines related to independent living is therefore a helpful strategy. Finally, positive parental expectations show up repeatedly in relation to positive outcomes after high school. Thus, when you set the bar high your youth with ASD is more likely to succeed than when not.