Few Level-2 screening instruments for autism cover a broad age range and include direct interactions with caregivers, and fewer have proven utility in Spanish-speaking populations. The study explored the psychometric properties of a newly developed tool in a large sample from South America (n = 295). The BOSA’s sensitivity ranged from 0.46 to 1.00 and specificity from 0.44 to 0.93. Based on these findings, the BOSA demonstrates clinical utility to be used as a Level-2 screener in this population. Like other autism screening instruments, the Emotional and Behavioral Problems (EBPs) and differences across Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) modules predicted false positive results on the screener. Potential considerations and implications are discussed.

Caregivers raising a child with autism experience increased parental burden, though many have positive experiences as well. Perceived negative impact, a form of parental burden, is the degree to which a caregiver reports negative financial, social, and emotional experiences associated with having a child with a disability. This longitudinal study defined parental perceived negative impact trajectory classes across time, determined predictors, and explored the relationship between functional adult outcomes and impact class. Participants (n = 209) were comprised of caregivers whose child received an ASD diagnosis or had developmental delay. Latent class growth modeling defined three trajectory classes (e.g., low [n = 68, 32.54%], medium [n = 98, 46.89%], and high [n = 43, 20.57%]). Regressions revealed the low impact trajectory class had more caregivers who were racial minorities, less educated, and more socially supported. Membership in the high negative impact class was associated with increased childhood hyperactivity, irritability, autism symptomology, and poor adaptive skills. The low negative impact trajectory class was associated with young adults achieving more functional outcomes. Overall, negative impact declined over time all for all classes, though never completely subsided. Possible implications for clinical practices are discussed.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are commonly involved in interventions aimed at improving communication or other social communicative behaviors. However, the field of ASD intervention research faces significant limitations in its current practices of measuring treatment effectiveness. There is a need for the development of outcome measures that adequately address the limitations of the measures historically used and that can reliably detect changes in the social communicative behaviors of individuals with ASD, especially in a short period of time. The aim of the present study was to determine the utility of the BOSCC-Phrase Speech Young Fluent (PSYF) as an outcome measure of treatment response. Specifically, this study analyzed the factor structure of the measure, examined its initial psychometric properties, and provided evidence of its utility as a measure of change. The BOSCC coding scheme was applied to 345 video administrations from 160 participants diagnosed with ASD. Participants included individuals of any age with consistent and flexible phrase speech, or individuals under the age of 8 years with fluent, complex sentences. The BOSCC-PSYF has an underlying three-factor structure. Test-Retest reliability was good for the Early Communication domain, moderate for the Social Reciprocity/Language domain, and poor for the RRB domain. Inter-rater reliability was good for the Early Communication and Social Reciprocity/Language domains and fair for the RRB domain. Significant changes occurred over time in the Early Communication and Social Reciprocity/Language domains, and Core Total scores. Standardized effect sizes of change were larger in the BOSCC domains than in ADOS CSS and VABS Communication Standard Scores. The BOSCC provides a standardized, flexible, and minimally biased assessment of social communication changes in response to treatment. Its validation would have important implications for ASD intervention research, including the possibility of a low-cost measure that reliably measures changes in broad social communicative behaviors in a short period of time, can be conducted and coded by individuals of various skill levels, and is flexible enough to be used across various sites/studies.

Daily living skills are a predictor of positive outcomes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet little is known about trajectories of daily living skills in adults with ASD. This study investigated the impact of high school exit on participants’ trajectories of daily living skills age equivalent (DLS-AE) scores from ages 2-26 and the relationship between DLS-AE trajectories and employment and education outcomes. 98 adults with ASD were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study. The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were administered 8 times from ages 2-26. Employment and education data were compiled from parent-report demographic forms. DLS-AE trajectories modestly increased with age prior to exiting school, at which point DLS-AE trajectories plateaued, then declined. A significant (p < .01) decrease occurred in the slope of DLS-AE trajectories following school exit. High DLS-AE scores predicted participation in post-secondary education (X2 (5, n = 73) = 27.83, p < .001). Autism symptom severity predicted participation in employment (X2 (5, n = 58) = 27.54, p < .001). These findings provide evidence that DLS declines in adults with ASD, specifically after school exit, and highlight the importance of DLS in normative adult outcomes. Future work should examine the trajectories of DLS in middle and later adulthood and consider intervention targets for bolstering DLS following school exit.

Many studies have documented adaptive behavior deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A considerable body of work has also catalogued challenges in adult outcome attainment amongst autistic individuals; notably, relatively strong adaptive function is associated with a higher likelihood of attaining some adult outcomes in this population. To date, little work has examined whether competency in specific adaptive behaviors increases the likelihood of attaining adult outcomes. This study sought to address this gap via item set and item-level analyses of scores from a common adaptive behavior measure, the Vineland Adaptative Behavior Scales, from ages 5, 9, 14, and 18 in a well-characterized longitudinal cohort. Item sets related to cooking and personal hygiene predicted adult employment and subjective well-being at multiple ages. Individual items related to community skills (i.e., money management, rules, rights, and safety, restaurant skills, etc.) emerged as significant predictors of adult employment, social relationships, living status, and subjective well-being. Implications for adaptive behavior interventions are discussed.

Siblings play an important role in shaping the developmental trajectories of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Having siblings has been associated with better social communication, non-verbal communication, and theory of mind abilities in ASD. However, little is known about the impact of siblings on adaptive skill growth over time, even though adaptive behavior competencies are among the strongest predictors of positive outcomes in ASD. This study examined the influence of sibling constellation factors, including the presence of siblings, position in birth order, gender of closest-age sibling, and gender match of sibling dyad on the adaptive behavior trajectories of individuals with ASD and non-spectrum disorders from ages 9-26 years. Participants with one or more siblings, regardless of birth order position, experienced faster growth rates in adaptive behavior than participants without siblings. Additional benefits were noted when participants’ closest-age siblings were male and when participants were gender-matched with their closest-age siblings.