Adverse Effect and Autism
In the schools the autism evaluation team gathers information to help to determine if the characteristics of the “disability” of autism are present. During the evaluation, they also gather information about how it may be impacting the student’s educational progress. If there is a negative effect caused by the characteristics of autism, something that significantly interferes with educational progress, this is called “adverse effect.” An educational team that includes the student’s parents and the student if they are 18 or older will then use that information to determine if the student is eligible for special education services.
Two Tiers to Eligibility
Ⅰ
Disability
+
Ⅱ
Adverse Effect
- Communication
- Social Functioning
- Pragmatic Language
- Adaptive Behavior
- Emotion Regulation
- Academic Performance
(see expanded list below)
=
E
Eligibility
In the private setting evaluators consider whether characteristics of autism cause what is called a “significant impairment” in functioning. (Of course, this does not mean that they ignore the positive characteristics of the individual.)
Likewise in the school setting the team considers “adverse effect” on educational performance. This may present in different ways.
Note that the words are NOT “adverse effect on academic performance.” In other words, much more than grades or performance on state achievement tests are considered.
| Adverse Effects on Educational Performance | |
|---|---|
| Communication functioning | Problem-solving skills |
| Social functioning | Emotion regulation |
| Pragmatic language | Hygiene |
| Organizational skills | Behavior |
| Group work skills | Attention challenges |
| Academic performance | Daily living skills / adaptive behavior |
| List of some areas of educational performance impacted by disabilities. | |
Aspy and Grossman