High school students are currently transitioning out of an autism program at the author’s school, without functional life skills This impacts their ability to live independently and reduces their employment opportunities. Life skills are “skills or tasks that contribute to the successful, independent functioning of an individual in adulthood” (Cronin, 1996, p. 54). A review of the literature suggests autistic individuals are at a disadvantage compared to their same-aged peers when attempting to learn life skills. Their struggles with life skills could be partly due to their difficulties with executive functioning, motor skills, or a combination of their executive functioning and motor deficits.
Based on a review of the current practices that support and enhance learning for autistic students, while considering the need for support in executive functioning and motor skills, the author proposes an intervention outlined within this doctoral paper. The intervention is a Functional Life Skills Lab that will be offered as an elective class to autistic high school students where the author works. This proposed intervention would provide hands-on training with real-world materials with a multidisciplinary team approach to teach life skills. It would provide opportunities for autistic students to improve their independence by preparing them for meaningful participation in everyday life skills. The author includes a funding plan that will assist in purchasing the necessary items to make the proposed intervention successful. In addition, this doctoral paper provides a comprehensive program evaluation plan highlighting the key stakeholders and a multiple baseline study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46620 |
| Date | 25 August 2023 |
| Creators | Simeone, Erin |
| Contributors | Whiting, Colleen Cameron, Jacobs, Karen |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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