Use of the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity to Assess Executive Function in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Overall, the WCPA was cognitively demanding for youths with ASD without an intellectual disability. These results have implications for using evidence-based strategies to teach adolescents with ASD how to manage their time and plan and prioritize homework assignments, upcoming tests or quizzes, and extracurricular activities. Plain-Language Summary: Youths with autism spectrum disorder have significant problems with executive function, particularly organization, prioritization, time management, and planning. There are few objective, performance-based measures of executive function, especially those that can be used with autistic youths. To our knowledge, this study is the first to use the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA) with autistic adolescents who do not have an intellectual disability. The WCPA captured their deficits related to executive function and could be a useful tool for assessment and treatment planning.PMID:38206796 | PMC:PMC10846385 | DOI:10.5014/ajot.2024.050295
Source: The American Journal of Occupational Therapy - Category: Occupational Health Authors: Source Type: research