Brief Report: Postsecondary Work and Educational Disruptions for Youth on the Autism Spectrum

This study examined vocational/educational disruption in the 2-3 years after high school for 36 youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data were collected three times from parents: during youth's last year of high school and two times after high school exit. Data were coded into categories indicating any versus no disruptions in postsecondary vocation/education, and group differences in individual (behavior problems, IQ, adaptive behavior, autism severity, stress reactivity) and family (parent depression, anxiety, quality of life; family income and climate) factors were examined. One-half of youth had experienced a postsecondary vocational/educational disruption; parents of those with a disruption had more depressive and anxiety symptoms and lower quality of life while their son/daughter was still in high school.
Author(s): Julie Lounds Taylor [sup.1] [sup.2] , Leann Smith DaWalt [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 0000 0004 1936 9916, grid.412807.8, , Nashville, TN, USA [...]