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Determinants of Inclusion in Mainstream School for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders from the EpiTED Study: A 10-Year Follow-up Cohort

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Abstract

Inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in mainstream schools has a positive impact on their social and daily living behaviors. Our objective was to identify clinical and socio-demographic variables promoting or limiting inclusion in mainstream school through childhood and adolescence. The EpiTED study is a long-term, prospective, multicenter cohort of 281 ASD children included before the age of 7, with a 10-year follow-up in France. Variables significantly linked to inclusion in mainstream school were identified using a mixed-effect logistic regression model: greater autonomy [OR = 1.45 (1.29–1.63)], lesser symptom severity [OR = 0.96 (0.92–0.99)] and fewer siblings [OR = 0.86 (0.75–0.99)]. In the multivariate model, the probability for a child of being included in mainstream school decreased over time [OR = 0.91 (0.85–0.97)], i.e. with age.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the children and their families involved in the EpiTED cohort, the EpiTED research team who collected the data, and the clinical team for their relevant advice. The EpiTED study was supported by grants from the University hospital of Montpellier (France), the Orange Foundation and the French national health institute (PHRC 1997 & 2007 and ANR Blanc).

Funding

The EpiTED study was supported by Grants from the University hospital of Montpellier (France), the Orange Foundation and the French national health institute (PHRC 1997 & 2007 and ANR Blanc).

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Author notes

  1. Amaria Baghdadli and Alexandra Rouquette have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, CESP, 94807, Villejuif, France

    Charlotte Lafont, Henri Panjo, Cécile Michelon, Bruno Falissard, Mario Speranza, Marie-Christine Picot, Amaria Baghdadli & Alexandra Rouquette

  2. APHP-Paris-Saclay, Service d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France

    Charlotte Lafont, Bruno Falissard & Alexandra Rouquette

  3. Département de Psychiatrie, CHU de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Cécile Michelon & Amaria Baghdadli

  4. Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent, Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, Le Chesnay, France

    Mario Speranza

  5. Unité de Recherche Clinique et Epidémiologie (Département Information Médicale), INSERM Centre d’Investigation Clinique 1411, CHU Montpellier, Université Montpellier, 34 295, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Marie-Christine Picot

  6. Centre de Ressource Autisme Languedoc-Roussillon, Centre d’excellence sur l’autisme et les troubles neurodéveloppementaux, CHU et Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Amaria Baghdadli

Authors
  1. Charlotte Lafont
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  2. Henri Panjo
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  3. Cécile Michelon
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  7. Amaria Baghdadli
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  8. Alexandra Rouquette
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Contributions

Material preparation and data collection were performed by Amaria Baghdadli, Cécile Michelon and Marie-Christine Picot. Statistical analysis were performed by Charlotte Lafont and Henri Panjo. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Charlotte Lafont, Alexandra Rouquette, Amaria Baghdadli and Cécile Michelon. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte Lafont.

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Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest to declare.

Ethical Approval

The study protocol was approved by a Human Subjects Protection committee (CPP: n°12 04 02 (5/06/2012)) and by the National Commission for digital technologies and individual freedoms (CNIL: 1585321 v 0).

Informed Consent

Parents or guardians of all EpiTED participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

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Lafont, C., Panjo, H., Michelon, C. et al. Determinants of Inclusion in Mainstream School for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders from the EpiTED Study: A 10-Year Follow-up Cohort. J Autism Dev Disord 53, 121–131 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05404-y

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