High Functioning Children and Adults with Austim

Some adults and children live with undiagnosed or newly diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Some of these individuals may seek out various supports and services (e.g., vocational/career counseling), particularly when they begin to experience problems in work and/or social settings. When a diagnosis of ASD is resented to a previously undiagnosed individual, it is essential that this be done with the utmost sensitivity.

For transitioning adolescents and adults with ASD, social communication is a particularly important skill area to consider. For example, social communication is important in the “peer arena”, where adolescents explore different relationships and learn about friendship, loyalty, and individual differences. Communication rules in adolescent social interactions are often subtle and unspoken, and successful navigation within social settings requires awareness of these rules. In addition, the social, emotional, and critical thinking demands during adolescence are constantly evolving; managing these demands can be challenging for all adolescents, including students with social learning challenges such as ASD. Similar social communication skills are important for young adults with ASD in workplace interactions with supervisors, coworkers, and the public. Other areas of importance include executive functioning and problem-solving skills needed to achieve greater independence in all settings.

Challenges of Identifying High Functioning ASD


High-functioning individuals with ASD pose particular challenges both for identification and for determining eligibility for services. These individuals often have either verbal or nonverbal intelligence within normal limits and appear to succeed in some or most academic subjects, particularly in early school years. As a result, many are not diagnosed until later school age, adolescence, or even adulthood. Long-term outcomes research for these individuals has shown that social communication deficits significantly affect their ability to adjust to new social demands in later academic and community settings and to achieve vocational goals. These findings suggest that it is important to provide intervention to address the gap between cognitive potential and social adaptive functioning.

Determining an individual’s eligibility for educational services necessitates the use of a variety of strategies for gathering information, including standardized measures of social adaptive functioning, naturalistic observation across a range of social settings, and caregiver/teacher interviews or questionnaires. However, regardless of the assessment measures or tools used, the clinician needs to be aware of any subtle signs and symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of ASD.

The goal of intervention is to improve social communication and other language impairments and modify behaviors to improve an individual’s quality of life and increase social acceptance. Essential outcomes focus on improvements in social communication that affect the individual’s ability to develop relationships, function effectively, and actively participate in everyday life. SLPs often collaborate with other professionals on the individual’s team in designing and implementing effective treatment plans.

Source: www.asha.org

ASD Organizations and Related Content

American Academy of Pediatrics’ Autism Resources

  • Autism Intervention Research Network on Behavioral Health (AIR-B)
  • Autism Navigator
  • Autism Now
  • Autism Speaks
  • Bilingual Autism Guide
  • Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive
  • Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Learn the Signs. Act Early
  • Easter Seals: Autism Services
  • Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth, and Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder [PDF]
  • First Signs
  • First Words Project-The Florida State University College of Medicine: Autism Institute
  • Interactive Autism Network
  • Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorders-2012 Update
  • Marcus, L. M., Kunce, L. J., & Schopler, E. (2005). Working with families. In F. Volkmar, R. Paul, A. Klin, & D. Cohen (Eds.). Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (3rd ed., pp. 1055-1086). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
  • National Autism Association
  • National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities
  • Rubin, E. (2012). Neurodevelopment of social competence; produced as a free webinar by the National Autistic Society
  • Screening and Diagnosis of Autism: Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society [PDF]
  • Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research: 2012 Update [PDF]
  • The Autism Genome Project Consortium. (2007). Mapping autism risk loci using genetic linkage and chromosomal rearrangements. Nature Genetics. DOI:10.1038/ng1985.
  • The Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • The National Autism Center’s National Standards Report [PDF]
  • The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • What Works Clearinghouse