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Friday, May 8, 2009
Northwest Hall (Chicago Hilton)
12:00 PM
Background: Research has indicated a weak relationship between ability (measured by Vineland scores) and disability (measured by ADOS scores) among high functioning individuals with ASD; despite having a Verbal IQ > 70, these individuals demonstrated significant vulnerabilities in their adaptive functioning (Klin, Saulnier, Sparrow et al., 2007).
Objectives: The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between adaptive functioning and autism symptomatology in a sample of 334 individuals with ASD ages 4 to 16. These individuals participated in the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC), a North American multiple site, university-based research study that includes approximately 420 families with only one child with an ASD.
Methods: Participants included 334 individuals with ASD (218 with autism, 76 with PDD-NOS, and 40 with Asperger Syndrome), ages 4 to 16 (mean age = 9.0 years). Correlation analyses were completed between Vineland, IQ (i.e., Mullen, DAS-II, WISC-IV and WASI), ADI-R scales, and ADOS severity scores. ADOS severity scores were based on creating a normal curve for each ADOS module and then determining each individual’s level of severity depending on where they fell along the respective curve for that module, with scores ranging between 1 and 10.
Results: Vineland results were as follows (mean): Composite = 78.6, Communication = 82.7, Social = 75.4, and Daily Living = 83. Results of IQ measures were (mean): Full Scale IQ = 93.1, Verbal IQ = 89.9, Nonverbal IQ = 96.6. The mean ADOS severity score was 7.42. Strong positive relationships were found between Full Scale IQ and Vineland subscales (Communication r = .47; Socialization r = .36; Daily Living Skills r = .44), suggesting that individuals with higher IQ scores have more advanced adaptive skills. Vineland Communication and Socialization subscales were weakly associated with ADOS severity scores (Communication r = -.13; Socialization r = -.15) but more strongly with ADI diagnostic scores (ranging from r = -.23 to r = -.35). Conversely, Vineland Daily Living Skills were more strongly associated with ADOS severity scores (r = -.28), but less so with ADI-R diagnostic scores (r = -.19 and r = -.21). ADI-R repetitive behavior scales were not significant with Vineland scores. Stronger negative correlations were found between age and Vineland Communication (r = -.36) and Socialization scores (r = -.26) than for Daily Living (r = -.15).
Conclusions: As in prior research, intellectual functioning predicted higher levels of adaptive ability. Adaptive communication and social skills were only marginally associated with current disability as assessed from direct observation of the individual (ADOS), but more strongly related to parent report of past communication and social interaction difficulties (diagnostic ADI-R). These results suggest that for communicative and social, but not daily living skills, past symptom severity as reported by a parent is a stronger predictor of later adaptive problems than current symptomatology (as assessed by an independent observer), and that the acquisition of these skills does not keep pace with age expectations, despite level of cognitive functioning.
Objectives: The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between adaptive functioning and autism symptomatology in a sample of 334 individuals with ASD ages 4 to 16. These individuals participated in the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC), a North American multiple site, university-based research study that includes approximately 420 families with only one child with an ASD.
Methods: Participants included 334 individuals with ASD (218 with autism, 76 with PDD-NOS, and 40 with Asperger Syndrome), ages 4 to 16 (mean age = 9.0 years). Correlation analyses were completed between Vineland, IQ (i.e., Mullen, DAS-II, WISC-IV and WASI), ADI-R scales, and ADOS severity scores. ADOS severity scores were based on creating a normal curve for each ADOS module and then determining each individual’s level of severity depending on where they fell along the respective curve for that module, with scores ranging between 1 and 10.
Results: Vineland results were as follows (mean): Composite = 78.6, Communication = 82.7, Social = 75.4, and Daily Living = 83. Results of IQ measures were (mean): Full Scale IQ = 93.1, Verbal IQ = 89.9, Nonverbal IQ = 96.6. The mean ADOS severity score was 7.42. Strong positive relationships were found between Full Scale IQ and Vineland subscales (Communication r = .47; Socialization r = .36; Daily Living Skills r = .44), suggesting that individuals with higher IQ scores have more advanced adaptive skills. Vineland Communication and Socialization subscales were weakly associated with ADOS severity scores (Communication r = -.13; Socialization r = -.15) but more strongly with ADI diagnostic scores (ranging from r = -.23 to r = -.35). Conversely, Vineland Daily Living Skills were more strongly associated with ADOS severity scores (r = -.28), but less so with ADI-R diagnostic scores (r = -.19 and r = -.21). ADI-R repetitive behavior scales were not significant with Vineland scores. Stronger negative correlations were found between age and Vineland Communication (r = -.36) and Socialization scores (r = -.26) than for Daily Living (r = -.15).
Conclusions: As in prior research, intellectual functioning predicted higher levels of adaptive ability. Adaptive communication and social skills were only marginally associated with current disability as assessed from direct observation of the individual (ADOS), but more strongly related to parent report of past communication and social interaction difficulties (diagnostic ADI-R). These results suggest that for communicative and social, but not daily living skills, past symptom severity as reported by a parent is a stronger predictor of later adaptive problems than current symptomatology (as assessed by an independent observer), and that the acquisition of these skills does not keep pace with age expectations, despite level of cognitive functioning.