A number of policies mandate that autistic transition-age youth receive employment services to prepare for the workforce before high school graduation. A key limitation to these services is the job interview component, which relies on non-standardized, resource-intensive, staff-led role-plays to help autistic transition-age youth improve their interview skills. The autism community has called for better job interview preparation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA core feature of autism is deficits in executive functioning (EF), including difficulty with planning, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. Despite a growing need for evidence-based assessments of EF for autism populations, statistical models of many commonly used measures of EF, including the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), have not been investigated for a sample of autistic participants. The purpose of this study was to address a gap in the literature regarding the latent structure of the D-KEFS in a sample of autistic individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutistic transition-age youth experience high rates of unemployment and underemployment, in part due to the social challenges they may face when having conversations in the workplace. In an effort to help enhance conversational abilities in the workplace, our collaborative team partnered to develop . Specifically, our team of scientists, community partners, and diversity and inclusion experts participated in a community-engaged process to develop using iterative feedback from autistic transition-age youth and their teachers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: This review provides a highlight of existing evidence-based practices and community support systems that exist to enhance employment outcomes for autistic transition-age youth (TAY) and adults. An update is provided on the current status of these programs and the impact they are having on employment outcomes for this population.
Recent Findings: Many programs exist that prove to be efficacious in improving employment outcomes.
Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize patterns of and factors associated with psychotropic medication use in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) receiving publicly funded mental health services.
Method: Data were extracted from 202 children with ASD participating in a cluster randomized trial of An Individualized Mental Health Intervention for ASD conducted in 29 publicly funded mental health programs. Children with ASD were aged 5 to 13 years (M = 9.
Background: For many autistic individuals approaching adulthood, interventions to promote skills toward independence are lacking. Driving is an important ability to cultivate as it may be a critical step to attaining independence, securing and maintaining work, and fostering relationships. Only about one third of able autistic individuals drive independently, and fear to drive is a common reason for not driving.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Autism Impact Measure (AIM) was designed specifically for treatment-outcome assessment in children with ASD, focusing on treatment-relevant aspects of symptom presentation and efficient detection of short-term improvement. The AIM demonstrated strong reliability and validity in initial psychometric studies. The current study evaluated the AIM's sensitivity to change across well-established treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Virtual Reality Job-Interview Training (VR-JIT) is an efficacious Internet-based intervention for adults with severe mental illness (SMI). Evaluations of VR-JIT have shown improved interview skill and access to employment in several cohorts of adults with SMI and with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). VR-JIT trains participants how to fill out job applications and handle job interviews through e-learning content and applied practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Intellect Dev Disabil
September 2019
Despite the importance of expressive language for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), expressive language assessments are not consistently included in ASD research and many studies do not adequately describe participants' verbal abilities. A valid and efficient measure of expressive language would facilitate consistent reporting across ASD research studies and provide data for additional analyses. The current study developed a new Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) expressive language score and examined convergent and divergent validity in a large, well-defined sample of children with ASD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe social work profession has not yet taken a leadership role in addressing the myriad of challenges that individuals on the autism spectrum encounter across the lifespan. In this essay, we argue that social workers are well equipped to engage in research and practice aimed at promoting full and meaningful inclusion in society, as well as social and economic justice, for individuals on the autism spectrum. We highlight short- and long-term goals that provide the social work profession with a framework to engage in research, practice, education, and advocacy aimed at supporting individuals on the autism spectrum and their families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Publicly funded mental health services play an important role in addressing co-occurring mental health problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, therapists report lacking training to effectively serve this complex population.
Objective: To test the effectiveness of training community therapists in An Individualized Mental Health Intervention for ASD (AIM HI) on challenging behaviors across 18 months among children with ASD and identify moderators and mediators of any intervention effects.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Cluster randomized trial conducted in 29 publicly funded outpatient and school-based mental health programs in southern California from 2012 to 2017.
The Autism Impact Measure (AIM) was designed to track incremental change in frequency and impact of core ASD symptoms. The current study examined the structural and convergent validity of the AIM in a large sample of children with ASD. The results of a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a final model with five theoretically and empirically meaningful subdomains: Repetitive Behavior, Atypical Behavior, Communication, Social Reciprocity, and Peer Interaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe population of adults on the autism spectrum continues to increase, and vocational outcomes are particularly poor. Longitudinal studies of adults with autism spectrum and without intellectual disability have shown consistent and persistent deficits across cognitive, social, and vocational domains, indicating a need for effective treatments of functional disabilities as each impact employment. This initial pilot study is an open trial investigation of the feasibility, acceptability, and initial estimates of outcomes for the newly developed Supported Employment, Comprehensive Cognitive Enhancement, and Social Skills intervention, a manualized "soft skills" curriculum, to enhance both cognitive and social development in adults with autism spectrum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublicly funded mental health programs play a significant role in serving children with autism spectrum disorder. Understanding patterns of psychiatric comorbidity for this population within mental health settings is important to implement appropriately tailored interventions. This study (1) describes patterns of psychiatric comorbidity in children with autism spectrum disorder who present to mental health services with challenging behaviors and (2) identifies child characteristics associated with comorbid conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublicly funded mental health services are critical in caring for children with autism spectrum disorder. Accurate identification of psychiatric comorbidity is necessary for effective mental health treatment. Little is known about psychiatric diagnosis for this population in routine mental health care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRace/ethnic disparities in utilization of children's mental health care have been well documented and are particularly concerning given the long-term risks of untreated mental health problems (Institute of Medicine, 2003; Kessler et al. Am J Psychiatry 152:10026-1032, 1995). Research investigating the higher rates of unmet need among race/ethnic minority youths has focused primarily on policy, fiscal, and individual child or family factors that can influence service access and use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined caregiver strain in families who initiated mental health services for their child. Predictors of strain and the bidirectional relation between strain and child symptoms were examined. Participants included 218 children ages 4-13 with disruptive behavior problems and their caregivers, plus 96 psychotherapists, recruited from six publicly-funded clinics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis exploratory qualitative study describes treatment barriers to receiving family-focused child mental health services for youths with disruptive behavior problems from multiple perspectives. Data were collected during a series of focus groups and interviews, including: 4 therapist focus groups, 3 parent focus groups, and 10 youth semi-structured interviews. Therapist, parent, and youth stakeholder participants discussed perceived barriers to effective treatment, the problems with current child outpatient therapy, and desired changes (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The perinatal period provides unique opportunities to identify and intervene with the co-occurrence of perinatal depression, intimate partner violence (IPV), and substance use problems. Psychosocial screening recommended for women seen in maternal child health settings tends to target single rather than multiple risk factors; there is limited research examining the co-occurrence of these issues especially in racially and ethnically diverse women across the perinatal period. These analyses explore the relationships of sociodemographic, psychosocial, and behavioral characteristics in a large, diverse sample of women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding how depression is conceptualized is key to designing effective screening and treatment procedures. Of particular concern is maternal depression in Latinas, given the high Latina birthrate. We conducted two focus groups of pregnant Latinas to elicit their perceptions of and experiences with maternal depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is urgent need for improvement in community-based mental health care for children and families. Multiple studies have documented serious limitations in the effectiveness of "usual care." Fortunately, many empirically-supported strategies to improve care have been developed, and thus there is now a great deal of knowledge available to address this significant public health problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene has been frequently studied in relation to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but little is known about the contribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the DRD4 gene to the development and persistence of ADHD. In the present study, we examined the association between two SNPs in DRD4 (rs1800955, rs916455) and adult ADHD persistence in a Chinese sample. Subjects (n=193) were diagnosed with ADHD in childhood and reassessed in young adulthood at an affiliated clinic of Peking University Sixth Hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe community mental health (CMH) system provides treatment for behavioral and psychiatric problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although parent stakeholder perspectives are important to improving care, these perspectives have not been systematically examined for this population in the CMH sector. Twenty-one semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with parents of children with ASD who received services in CMH clinics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF