Predictors of Daily Activity Performance of Children with Autism and its Association to Autism Characteristics

Background: The daily activity performance of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a central focus of occupational therapists. Yet, the existing performance-based assessments of basic and instrumental daily activities in children are limited and their application on children with ASD is scarce. The purpose of this study is to examine if daily activity performance of children with ASD is impaired as compared to children with typical development (TD), and to examine possible predictors of daily activity performance in children with ASD.

Method: The participants included 39 children with ASD and 40 children with TD, 6–10 years of age, who performed the Do-Eat, a performance based assessment of daily activities. The parents of children with ASD completed the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST), the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R), and the Sensory Experience Questionnaire (SEQ).

Results: Differences were found between activity performance of children with ASD and children with TD, who achieved significantly better (t (40.3) = -8.92, p < .001.

Conclusion: Children with ASD present difficulties in performance of daily activities and may benefit from occupational therapists' input concerning the impact of sensory features, specifically hyper-responsiveness, on daily function.