Friday, May 13, 2011
Elizabeth Ballroom E-F and Lirenta Foyer Level 2 (Manchester Grand Hyatt)
3:00 PM
J. Pandey1, H. W. Kang1, I. Giserman2, L. Bradstreet3, S. J. Cayless4 and R. T. Schultz5, (1)Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, (2)Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphi, PA, (3)Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, (4)Suite 860, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States, (5)Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Background: In addition to deficits in communication, socialization, and repetitive interests, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience difficulties in adaptive functioning. Adaptive functioning, therefore, is often a target of intervention. However, the relationship between adaptive functioning deficits, IQ, and autistic symptomatology remains unclear. For instance, a study by Liss and colleagues (2001) divided individuals with ASD into high- and low-functioning groups and found that deficits in adaptive behavior were strongly correlated with autistic symptomatology only in the high-functioning group, but that IQ was strongly predictive of adaptive behavior in the low-functioning group. Liss’s study and many others utilized the Vineland Behavior Rating Scales (VABS).
Objectives: The current study seeks to clarify these relationships and to compare the new edition of the VABS to another measure, the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, 2nd Edition (ABAS-II).
Methods: To date we have studied 87 participants between the ages of six and eighteen (59 males, 28 females; mean age = 10.8 years) with ASD, using gold standard diagnostic measures; with at least 50 more participants for the final presentation. The study is examining the relationship between adaptive functioning, IQ, and autism symptomatology for individuals with low- and high-functioning ASD using two parent-report measures of adaptive functioning: VABS-II and the ABAS-II.
Results: In this presentation we will describe the relationship between the two measures and their pattern of correlations to clinical symptoms and IQ profiles.
Conclusions: A detailed understanding of these relationships should clarify (a) profiles of adaptive behavior difficulties in ASD; and (b) differences in two commonly used measures.
