Adaptive behavior refers to the practical skills needed to navigate everyday life and the daily environment. Although differences in adaptive behavior are not a core characteristic of ASD, these differences are often seen clinically and have been routinely researched. Often those with ASD seem to have particular challenges in adaptive behavior areas involving social interaction and communication, which is logical given these are core distinctions of ASD. The present study involves looking at correlations between ADOS-2 Comparison Scores and SIB-R Social Interaction and Communication Skills scores to examine the relationship between the strength of autism characteristics and adaptive functioning. Results showed that individuals had lower adaptive behavior scores than would be expected for their level of cognitive functioning. Age and the degree of autistic characteristics were found to interact in such a way that older individuals with a greater endorsement of autism had higher adaptive skills, and younger individuals typically had lower adaptive functioning. Despite this relationship, only IQ was found to predict adaptive functioning scores in the current sample.
","abstract_html":"<p>Adaptive behavior refers to the practical skills needed to navigate everyday life and the daily environment. Although differences in adaptive behavior are not a core characteristic of ASD, these differences are often seen clinically and have been routinely researched. Often those with ASD seem to have particular challenges in adaptive behavior areas involving social interaction and communication, which is logical given these are core distinctions of ASD. The present study involves looking at correlations between ADOS-2 Comparison Scores and SIB-R Social Interaction and Communication Skills scores to examine the relationship between the strength of autism characteristics and adaptive functioning. Results showed that individuals had lower adaptive behavior scores than would be expected for their level of cognitive functioning. Age and the degree of autistic characteristics were found to interact in such a way that older individuals with a greater endorsement of autism had higher adaptive skills, and younger individuals typically had lower adaptive functioning. Despite this relationship, only IQ was found to predict adaptive functioning scores in the current sample. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tecoulesco, Lisa Claire"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:39Z","subjects":["Adaptive Behavior","Autism","Mental Disorders","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2015 Lisa Claire Tecoulesco"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/436","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tecoulesco, Lisa Claire"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Adaptive Behavior","Autism","Mental Disorders","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2015 Lisa Claire Tecoulesco"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/436"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Adaptive behavior refers to the practical skills needed to navigate everyday life and the daily environment. Although differences in adaptive behavior are not a core characteristic of ASD, these differences are often seen clinically and have been routinely researched. Often those with ASD seem to have particular challenges in adaptive behavior areas involving social interaction and communication, which is logical given these are core distinctions of ASD. The present study involves looking at correlations between ADOS-2 Comparison Scores and SIB-R Social Interaction and Communication Skills scores to examine the relationship between the strength of autism characteristics and adaptive functioning. Results showed that individuals had lower adaptive behavior scores than would be expected for their level of cognitive functioning. Age and the degree of autistic characteristics were found to interact in such a way that older individuals with a greater endorsement of autism had higher adaptive skills, and younger individuals typically had lower adaptive functioning. Despite this relationship, only IQ was found to predict adaptive functioning scores in the current sample.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Adaptive Behavior and the Strength of Autism Characteristics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Tecoulesco, Lisa Claire"],"dc:description.abstract":["Adaptive behavior refers to the practical skills needed to navigate everyday life and the daily environment. Although differences in adaptive behavior are not a core characteristic of ASD, these differences are often seen clinically and have been routinely researched. Often those with ASD seem to have particular challenges in adaptive behavior areas involving social interaction and communication, which is logical given these are core distinctions of ASD. The present study involves looking at correlations between ADOS-2 Comparison Scores and SIB-R Social Interaction and Communication Skills scores to examine the relationship between the strength of autism characteristics and adaptive functioning. Results showed that individuals had lower adaptive behavior scores than would be expected for their level of cognitive functioning. Age and the degree of autistic characteristics were found to interact in such a way that older individuals with a greater endorsement of autism had higher adaptive skills, and younger individuals typically had lower adaptive functioning. Despite this relationship, only IQ was found to predict adaptive functioning scores in the current sample.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/436"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2015 Lisa Claire Tecoulesco"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Adaptive Behavior","Autism","Mental Disorders","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Adaptive Behavior and the Strength of Autism Characteristics"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:39Z"}