The Transition out of High School for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Mothers: The Role of Age at Exit

Background: There is considerable variability in the age at which adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exit the school system. Some exit with their same-aged peers, while others take advantage of the IDEA and remain in secondary school until their 22^nd birthday. Little is known about the role of timing of high school exit for families of individuals with ASD.

Objectives: This study examines whether age at high school exit can be predicted from characteristics of the individuals with ASD, and whether age at exit is related to the mother-child relationship and maternal well-being.

Methods: Participants were 82 mothers with a son or daughter with ASD who exited high school prior to or during the study period. Mothers participated in five assessments over a 10-year period.  Individuals with ASD in this sample averaged 16 years of age at the start of the study, with a range from 10 years to 22 years.  They were 78% male, and 57% had received an intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis.  The present analysis used measures of the behaviors and symptoms of the individual with ASD measured at the first assessment, including autism symptoms, maladaptive behaviors, and an indicator of whether the son or daughter had ever been diagnosed with ID.  Measures of maternal well-being and the mother-child relationship for the present analysis were collected at the fifth assessment, and included depressive symptoms, anxiety, and mother-child relationship closeness.

Results: In all analyses, we controlled for the son or daughter’s gender and age at the start of the study.  Whether the individual had a diagnosis of ID was significantly related to age at high school exit, F(1, 81)=49.92, p<.001, accounting for 36% of the variance of age at exit.  On average, those without ID exited at 19.2 years of age, and those with ID exited 1.6 years later.  In addition to this main effect, ID diagnosis interacted with severity of asocial behavior problems to predict age at exit, β=1.63, p < .05.  For those who had a comorbid diagnosis of ID, more asocial behavior problems (characterized by offensive or uncooperative behavior) were related to older age at high school exit.  In contrast, asocial behavior problems were unrelated to age at high school exit for those without ID.  Severity of autism symptoms was not related to age at exit.  We next examined whether age at exit predicted subsequent maternal well-being (depression, anxiety) or mother-child relationship quality.  After controlling for ID, gender, and age at study start, older age at exit predicted a closer mother-child relationship, β = .28, p < .05. 

Conclusions: There was variation in the age at which individuals with ASD left the school system, with comorbid ID and asocial behavior problems explaining significant amounts of this variance.  Timing of exit was not related to maternal well-being, but did predict mothers’ closeness with their son or daughter.  Discussion will focus on implications for transition and post-transition services.