Abstract
Background
Quality of life (QoL), social-emotional and occupational functioning are often diminished in young autistic adults. Measuring these constructs as vocational training outcomes may inform future programming and relevancy of measures.
Methods
This pilot study analyzed changes in social-emotional functioning and QoL during the involvement at a vocational program for autistic adults using the WHOQOL-BREF, a modified version of the Birchwood- Social Functioning Scale (SFS-m) and a piloted measure. Participants completed these self-reported questionnaires upon admission and at 3 months.
Results
Significant change was found on the SFS-m and two WHOQOL-BREF domains: psychological and environmental.
Conclusions
This pilot study suggests that autistic adults, similar in characterization, can self-report using these QoL and social measures; further, these measures are sensitive to certain changes over time in such group programs.
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Notes
When the paired t-test analysis was run using the dropped participant’s unfinished totaled score at Time 2, the overall change over time was not found to be significant (t(6) = −1.04, p = 0.34).
Although nP recruits both cognitively able autistic individuals as well as autistic individuals with intellectual disability, at the time of data collection, only cognitively able individuals were admitted during the time of data collection.
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Acknowledgments
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award Number UL1TR001105. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Thank you to Brittany Mulkey, SSP for assistance on statistical analyses and to the World Health Organization and M. Birchwood for the development and access to the outcome measures.
Funding
This study was funded by The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award Number UL1TR001105. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
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Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Michelle R. Kandalaft and Kilee M. DeBrabander. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Michelle R. Kandalaft and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Michelle R. Kandalaft is the owner and psychologist of Spectra Therapies (Dallas, TX), and a Professional Advisory Committee Member of nonPareil Institute (Plano, TX), Community Homes for Adults, Inc. (CHAI; Dallas, TX), and Segue Center (Dallas, TX). Kilee M. DeBrabander has no conflicts of interest to declare.
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Kandalaft, M.R., DeBrabander, K.M. Brief report: Changes in quality of life and social functioning during vocational program – a pilot study of autistic adults. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 3774–3781 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04821-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04821-9