Maintenance of Gains in Autistic Teens Receiving a Daily Living Skills Intervention at a 6-Month Follow-Up

Autistic adolescents without an intellectual disability have daily living skills (DLS) that are often 6-8 years behind same-aged peers. The Surviving and Thriving in the Real World (STRW) intervention has demonstrated gains in age-appropriate DLS from baseline to post-treatment compared to a comparison group.

Evaluate maintenance of DLS gains from post-treatment to 6-month follow-up from two randomized clinical trials of the STRW intervention.

112 autistic teens were randomized to receive the STRW intervention (n = 60) or an active comparison group (n = 52). Adolescents were assessed at 6-month follow-up on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 3^rd Edition (VABS-3) and the DLS goal attainment scale (DLS-GAS).

Results revealed that the majority of teens in STRW maintained or improved their DLS on the VABS-3 and DLS-GAS. On the VABS-3, adolescents in STRW were not significantly different from the comparison group from post-treatment to 6-month follow-up. On the DLS-GAS, teens in both STRW and the comparison group maintained gains in cooking and self-care, but the comparison group made significant gains in laundry and money skills compared to STRW.

The STRW intervention may lead to sustained and clinically meaningful gains, but autistic teens may benefit from continued support. Future studies should examine if these DLS gains are maintained into adulthood and whether they impact outcomes in employment and independent living.