This pilot study aimed to investigate the activity participation of young adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) living in Taiwan. Eleven young adults with HFA, their caring adults, and 11 matched typically developing youth were recruited across Taiwan. The Adolescent and Young Adult Participation Sort-Taiwanese version (AYAPS-T) was administered to all three groups to compare the activity participation. In addition, youth with HFA identified activities in which they desired to participate and barriers hindering their participation. The results of this study suggest that youth with HFA had lower participation rates in activities across different domains than their typically developing peers. Youth with HFA were able to identify the activities they desired to do and the barriers hindering their participation. No significant differences in participation were found between the results reported by the caring adults and youth with HFA. Occupational therapy practitioners may work on eliminating the personal and environmental barriers that impede participation as youth with HFA transition out of secondary school.
The purpose of this pilot research was to translate the Adolescent and Young Adult Participation Sort into Taiwanese (AYAPS-T), an assessment tool measuring the activity participation and the self-identified barriers of youth transitioning into adulthood. The study included five phases: translation, cultural adaptation, taking photographs, field testing for content validity and pilot testing of test-retest reliability. A literature review, expert review and translation with back-translation were conducted for the initial activities. The activities were then edited on the basis of the feedback of 23 Taiwanese youth for content validity. Test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.91) of the AYAPS-T reported by 22 Taiwanese youth was high. With the activities designed to meet the developmental needs of young adults, the methodology of sorting photographs, the barrier list to identify possible obstacles and some psychometric properties established, the AYAPS-T serves as a reliable and valid tool to identify engagement of young adults in their occupations. Because of the nature of a pilot study, results are limited by a small sample size and limited evidence of psychometric properties. Psychometric properties such as interrater reliability and internal consistency as well as construct validity and concurrent validity need to be tested on a larger sample size.
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