academic achievement proﬁles of children with high...

Academic Achievement Profiles of Children with HighFunctioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome: A Review of the

Literature

Peggy J. Schaefer WhitbyUniversity of Central Florida

G. Richmond MancilWestern Kentucky University

Abstract: High functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger syndrome (AS) are foremost social disorders (Church,Alisanski, & Amanullah, 2000; Myles & Simpson, 2001) yet many students with HFA/AS experiencedifficulties with academic functioning. Educators report difficulties in teaching and identifying appropriateeducational interventions for children with HFA/AS. Research in the area of academic achievement of childrenwith HFA/AS is in the stage of infancy and more research is needed (Prior, 2003). To address the need fordevelopment of appropriate academic interventions, several research studies have been conducted to determinethe academic achievement profile of children with AS/ HFA (Barnhill, Hagiwara, Smith Myles, & Simpson,2000; Mayes & Calhoun, 2003a, 2003b, 2008; Goldstein, Minshew, & Siegel, 1994; Griswold, Barnhill,Smith Myles, Hagiwara, & Simpson, 2002; Minshew, Goldstein, Taylor, & Siegel, 1994). This articleprovides a synthesis of the literature on the academic achievement of students with HFA/AS from 1981 to thepresent to help determine if an academic profile for students with HFA/AS emerges.

While there is no exact population study, inthe United States of America, there are anestimated 560,000 of children between theages of 0-21 with an autism spectrum disorder(Center for Disease Control, 2007). This num-ber is expected to increase as approximately 1in 150 children are being diagnosed with anautism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of thereasons for the increase in children with anautism spectrum disorder is due to better as-sessment and broadening of the diagnosticcriteria (Rutter, 2005). It is estimated thatbetween 48% of individuals diagnosed withautism spectrum disorders have IQs below 70(Bertrand, Mars, & Boyle, 2001) leaving theother 52% of people diagnosed with autismspectrum disorders in the high functioningrange. Further, as early intervention methodsare identified and successfully impact the livesof children with autism spectrum disorders,academic goals are attainable (O’Connor &Klein, 2004).

Children with autism in the high-function-ing range are often referred to as having highfunctioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syn-drome (AS). AS was re-introduced by Wing in1981 (Wing, 1981). Wing’s 1981 definition ofAS was the same as autistic disorder as definedby the DSM-IV TR, except Wing describedindividuals with AS as having better social lan-guage skills (Prior, 2003). AS is listed as one ofthe five pervasive developmental disorders inthe DSM-IV TR (2000). The criteria listed inthe DSM-IV TR is different than previous con-ceptualizations in research (Prior, 2003). Be-cause of the discrepancy in the AS diagnosticcriteria, many authors use their own defini-tion of AS in research studies, making it verydifficult to determine a useable definition andcompare data across research studies (Schop-lar, 1998). Furthermore, the validity of AS as adistinct disorder according to the DSM-IV TRis questionable as many research studies indi-cate that individuals with AS meet criteria forboth AS and autism (Prior, 2003).

As a result of the discrepancies, there hasbeen much debate regarding the diagnosticdifferences between HFA and AS. Many ex-perts now suggest that AS is high functioningautism (Ozonoff, South & Miller, 2000; Prior

Correspondence concerning this article shouldbe addressed to Peggy J. Schaefer Whitby, Universityof Central Florida, 1407 Catherine Street, Orlando,FL 32801.

Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 2009, 44(4), 551–560© Division on Developmental Disabilities

Academic Achievement of Children with HFA and AS / 551

et al., 1998; Wing, 1998). While studies havedocumented differences between HFA andAS, these studies did not control for differ-ences in intelligence quotients and cognitivefunctioning levels (Prior, 2003). Studies con-trolling for IQ have documented no signifi-cant difference in HFA and AS (Prior, 2003).Thus, for purposes of this literature review,subjects will include both individuals withHFA and/or AS as defined by an IQ of 70 orgreater.

Academic achievement becomes increas-ingly important as the number of children onthe autism spectrum served in the generaleducation setting increases. According to theTwenty-seventh Annual Report to Congress,27% of children with autism spend less than21% of the day outside of the general educa-tion setting. Fifty-one percent of children withautism graduated with a standard diploma,twenty three percent of children with autismplan to attend college, and 17.6% droppedout of school (Wagner, Newman, Cameto, &Levine, 2006). As more children are diag-nosed with autism and expected to meet thesame academic standards of their neuro-typi-cal peers, there is a demand for interventionstrategies that will enable children withHFA/AS to perform academically.

Academic performance will enable individ-uals with HFA/AS to attend college and ob-tain meaningful employment. Although indi-viduals with HFA/AS have the intelligence asmeasured by IQ, to compete they need appro-priate interventions and accommodations toreach their full potential (Smith Myles, 2005).This is critical as Temple Grandin suggeststhat individuals with HFA/AS need to becomespecialized in a field so that people are willingto pay for their unique skill and overlook thesocial skill deficits (Grandin, Duffy, & Atwood,2004). Grandin’s comment suggests that aca-demic functioning and specialized skill devel-opment may be as important as social skillstraining for individuals with HFA/AS. If indi-viduals with HFA/AS lose the opportunity toattend college because of poor academic per-formance in school, they may not obtainmeaningful employment. Meaningful employ-ment also may provide individuals withHFA/AS access to people who have similarinterests and allow social interactions to de-

velop. The lack of meaningful employment,therefore, may cause further isolation for in-dividuals with HFA/AS.

To accomplish these academic goals, infor-mation on academic functioning is needed todevelop a foundation for understanding theacademic achievement strengths and weak-nesses of students with HFA/ AS (Griswold etal., 2002). Once a foundation of academicfunctioning is established, educational inter-ventions and best practices can be identified.To address the need for development of ap-propriate academic interventions, several re-search studies have been conducted to deter-mine the academic achievement profile ofchildren with AS or HFA (Dickerson Mayes, &Calhoun, 2003a, 2003b, 2008; Barnhill et al.,2000; Goldstein et al., 1994; Griswold et al.,2002; Minshew et al., 1994). Thus, the pur-pose of this review is to provide a synthesis ofthe literature on the academic achievement ofstudents with high functioning autism and As-perger syndrome to determine if an overallacademic achievement profile emerges. First,analysis of the characteristics of the partici-pants, the research design and the major find-ings across studies is provided. Second, anoverall summary of an academic achievementprofile for individuals with HFA/AS basedupon the articles is presented. Finally, impli-cations for practitioners and researchers areprovided.

Method

The literature review consisted of searches ofacademic search premier, ERIC, Middle Search Pre-mier, Primary Search, PsychARTICLES, PsychINFO and Pubmed using various combinationsof the following terms: Asperger syndrome,autism, high functioning autism, education,and academic achievement. Then a handsearch was conducted of the following jour-nals covering the time span from 1981 topresent: The Journal of Autism and Other Devel-opmental Disorders, Focus on Autism and Develop-mental Disabilities, and The Journal of Clinicaland Experimental Neuropsychology. The year1981 was chosen because Wing reintroducedAS in that year and the debate over HFA/ASsubtype differentiation began. Finally, after re-viewing the retrieved articles an archival

552 / Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities-December 2009

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search was conducted. This search resulted infive research studies where academic achieve-ment profiles of individuals with AS were theprimary area assessed. Criteria for inclusion inthe review were: subjects were diagnosed withHFA/AS, an experimental or quasi-experi-

mental design was employed, and the studyused a norm referenced achievement batteryto determine achievement level. For eachstudy, characteristics of subjects, research de-sign and major findings were identified. Thedata is presented in Tables 1, 2, and 3.

TABLE 2

Research Design

Study Research QuestionType of Assessment

Instrument Tests Statistical Analysis

Dickerson Mayes &Calhoun, 2003a

Delineate strengths& weaknesses todetermine adifference as afunction of ageand IQ.

IntelligenceAcademic

Achievement

Stanford Binet IVWISC –IIIDevelopmental Test

of Visual MotorIntegration

WIATWJ Tests of

Achievement

t tests with aBonferronicorrection

Pearson CorrelationCoefficients

Dickerson Mayes &Calhoun, 2003b

To understand thedifferences inability basedupon age andIQ.

IntelligenceNon-verbal

intelligenceVisual Motor

Achievement

Bayley Mental ScaleStanford BinetTest of Visual

motorIntegrationLeiter International

performancescale

Test of Non-verbalIntelligence

WIATWJ Tests of

Achievement

Pearson CorrelationCoefficients

t tests

Dickerson Mayes &Calhoun, 2008

To determine ifneuropsychologicaland learningprofiles emergeand to comparefindings fromthe WISC IIIand WIAT inpreviousresearch

IntelligenceAcademic

Achievement

WISC-IVWIAT-II

t TestsCohen’s d effect sizeANOVABonferroni t testsPearson CorrelationStepwise Linear

Regression

Goldstein, Minshew,& Siegel, 1994

To investigate agedifferences inthe academicprofile of peoplewith HFA ascompared toneurotypicalcontrols

AcademicAchievement

Detroit Tests ofLearning-2

Woodcock JohnsonReading Masterytests-R

Kaufman Test ofEducationalAchievement

ANOVA

Griswold, Barnhill,Smith Myles,Hagiwara, &Simpson, 2002

What are theacademiccharacteristics ofyouth with AS?

AchievementProblem Solving

WIATTOPS-RTOPS-A

Friedman Two Wayanalysis of Variance

Post HocComparisons

Minshew, Goldstein,Taylor, & Siegel,1994

To investigate thedifferences inacademic abilitybetween HFAand controls.

Achievement Detroit Tests ofLearning-2

Woodcock JohnsonReading Masterytests-R

Kaufman Test ofEducationalAchievement

Independent Group ttests

Note. WISC-III�Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children; WIAT�Weschler Individual Achievement Tests;TOPS-R�Test of Oral Problem Solving Revised; TOPS-A�Test of Oral Problem Solving for Adolescents


TABLE 3

Major Findings in Academic Achievement (HFA)

Study Profile strengths Profile Weaknesses Academic Implications Research Question Answer

Dickerson Mayes &Calhoun, 2003a

Reading, math &writing were inaverage rangeandcommensuratewith IQ

GraphomotorWritingAttentionComprehension:

social language& reasoning

7% qualified forreading SLD22% qualified formath SLD

63% qualified forwriting SLD

Academic interventionsmay need to focuson attention,language, socialskills, writing andgraphomotor skills

The research delineatesthe strengths andweakness of childrenwith HFA. Theresearch suggests thatthere is a differencebased on IQ and age.

Dickerson Mayes &Calhoun, 2003b

Math readingand spellingcorrelated withIQ

Written expression Use visual strengthwhile bypassingwriting weaknesses

Non-verbal and verbalintelligence gapclosed between theage of 9-10.Therefore, earlyintervention shouldfocus on verbalweakness

IQ increased up to theage of eight

Dickerson Mayes &Calhoun, 2008

Reading andMath werecommensuratewith IQ.Verbal andVisualReasoning

Written ExpressionAttentionProcessing SpeedLanguage

comprehensionand socialreasoning

17% qualified for mathlearning disability

63% qualified for awriting learningdisability

37% qualified for areading learningdisability

Teach to the child’sverbal and visual

reasoning skills whilecompensating forthe writing,attention, processingspeed, language andsocial reasoningweaknesses

The WISC-IV and theWIAT-II appear to bean improvedassessmentinstrument forchildren with HFAFSIQ was the bestpredictor of academicachievementProfile emerged:deficits in attention,graphomotor, andprocessing speed;strengths in verbaland visual reasoning

Goldstein,Minshew, &Siegel, 1994

Young Group:Decoding,RoteMechanicalFunctioning,Normalperformancein early years

Complexprocessingacross domains

ComprehensionOral directionsLinguisticallyComplex material

People with HFA mayperform as well orbetter than peers onmany age-normedtasks until a certaingrade level, beyondwhich they dosubstantially less well

Three longitudinal agepatterns emerged:1. Some academicskills remain at orabove average levels2. Understandingand performinglinguistically complexmaterials were deficitin both age groups3. Normalperformance in earlyyears but does notmaintain over time


Results

Characteristics of Study Participants

The majority of the researchers presentedgender, chronological age, autism spectrumdisorder diagnosis subtype with intellectualfunctioning level, and diagnostic instrument(See Table 1). Eighty eight percent of thesubjects were male, which is a slightly higherrepresentation of males than the populationas ASD is four times more likely to occur inmales than females (Center for Disease Con-trol, 2007).

For most studies, participants ranged from3–17 years old with a mean of 10.5 years inchronological age. Two studies reported a me-dian age of 14 and divide the group into twocategories: studies with participants under 14years old or above 14 years old. The purposeof the division of the group was to determineif age differences appeared to impact aca-demic achievement.

ASD diagnosis and level of intellectual func-tioning was reported for every study. Moststudies included persons with HFA/AS andhad an IQ of greater than 80. Several studiesincluded persons with ASD who had IQ’s of

less than 80, however, the data was used forcomparison to the group of persons with IQsabove 80. One study classified persons withHFA as having IQ levels above 70. In the studythat included persons with AS only, it wasinteresting to note that after the WeschlerIntelligence Scale for Children was adminis-tered, it was revealed that the subjects IQranged from 66 to 144.

All subjects met criteria for HFA/AS basedupon the DSM-IV-TR. Two studies used theAutism Diagnostic Inventory (ADI) and theAutism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS)to determine if the DSM-IV TR criterion weremet. All but two of the studies reported diag-nosis that was determined by a psychologist,psychiatrist or a physician. The two studiesthat did not report the person making thediagnosis were authored and conducted bypersons with the credentials to make the clin-ical diagnosis.

Research Design

While the research question for each studyvaried slightly, the majority of the researchstudies focused on understanding the achieve-

TABLE 3—(Continued)

Study Profile strengths Profile Weaknesses Academic Implications Research Question Answer

Griswold, Barnhill,Smith Myles,Hagiwara, &Simpson, 2002

Basic ReadingOral ExpressionAverageLanguageComposite

NumericalOperationsListeningComprehensionReadingComprehensionWritten ExpressionProblem Solving

Huge Range offunctioning, knowingthat a child has AShas little value to theteacher

Teachers need theindividual itemanalysis of these teststo build the IEP

Build student portfoliospaired with formalassessment

Profile emerged,however, in-depthassessments may beneeded to identifyweaknesses andportfolio assessmentsare needed todetermine studentneeds.

Minshew,Goldstein, Taylor,& Siegel, 1994

Basic ability toread, spell andperformmathematicalcalculations

Lowest subtests inarithmetic andcomprehension

Impairedcomprehensionand interpretiveskills ofinstructions andtext

Perform rote tasks andinvoke simpleassociative processes

The use of globalscores to assessacademic functioningin reading andmathematics may failto identify deficits

There is a profile that isdifferent than neuro-typical peers


ment or ability of students with HFA/AS orunderstanding the underlying achievement orability so that interventions could be devel-oped (See Table 2). One study investigatedthe relationship between age and IQ with ac-ademic achievement in order to gain a betterunderstanding of the intervention needs ofstudents as the progress through school. Twoof the studies used age and IQ matched con-trols groups, two research studies comparedscores based upon discrepancy from IQ andbetween age groups and two research studiescompared subtests with verbal, performanceor full scale IQ.

The main focus of each study was academicachievement. However, some studies includedinstruments other than academic achieve-ment assessments to help ascertain ability pro-files or strengths and deficits as it relates toschool. Each study, except one, included anIQ test in the data collection process. Many ofthe additional assessment instruments mea-sured areas that are considered weaknesses inHFA/AS, such as visual motor processing, mo-tor coordination and problem solving.

Data analysis varied for the studies. Severalstudies used independent t tests for groupcomparisons as well as dependent t tests tocompare discrepancy between IQ and varioussubtests. Correlation coefficients were used intwo studies to determine the relationship be-tween two variables. Two-way analysis of vari-ance also was used to determine the differ-ences between two or more variables.

Major Findings

Overall findings indicate that reading, mathand writing were commensurate with IQ(Dickerson Mayes & Calhoun., 2003a; Dicker-son Mayes & Calhoun., 2008) and that basicreading, encoding, rote skills and informationwas intact (See Table 3) (Mayes & Calhoun,2003a; Dickerson Mayes & Calhoun., 2003b,Goldstein et al., 1994; Griswold et al., 2002;Minshew et al., 1994). According to this re-view, weaknesses for children with HFA/AS liein the area of writing including graphomotorand organizational skills, attention, complexprocessing across domains including problemsolving, numerical operations, listening com-prehension and reading comprehension(Barnhill et al, 2000; Mayes & Calhoun, 2003a,

2003b, 2008; Goldstein, et al., 1994; Griswoldet al., 2002; Minshew et al., 1994). The lowestsubtests areas were in arithmetic and compre-hension (Minshew et al.).

Furthermore, it appears that IQ increasesup to the age of eight (Mayes & Calhoun,2003b). Children below the age of eight hadweaker verbal skills. The non-verbal and ver-bal intelligence gap closed between the age of9-10, suggesting that interventions prior to theage of eight focus on verbal skill acquisition.Individuals with HFA/AS may perform as wellor better than peers on many age-normedtasks until a certain grade level, beyond whichthey do substantially less well (Goldstein et al.,1994). The use of global scores to assess aca-demic functioning in reading and mathemat-ics may fail to identify deficits (Minshew et al.,1994).

Discussion

Overall, the review of the literature suggeststhat individuals with HFA/AS present with ageneral profile of academic functioning. Indi-viduals with HFA/AS have deficits in the areasof comprehension, written expression, grapho-motor skills, linguistically complex materials,complex processing across all domains andproblem solving. The deficits in academicfunctioning may not become apparent untillearning moves from rote tasks to abstract,conceptual learning (Goldstein et al., 1994).Deficits may result in academic difficulties inreading, writing and mathematics. Proper as-sessment and analysis of subtest domains isneeded to determine the strengths and weak-nesses of a student with HFA/AS as the disor-der present a range of functioning.

Reading

The academic profile in reading suggests thatbasic reading and decoding skills are intact forstudents with HFA/AS. Reading ability is com-mensurate with IQ up to around age 8. Duringthe early years, students perform at or abovetheir peers on reading tasks. After age eight,reading instruction focuses more on compre-hension including abstract concepts such asmain ideas, inferences and causes/effect. Ma-terial becomes less explicit which may explainthe decrease in reading ability when com-


pared to neuro-typical peers. Comprehensiondeficits are an area identified as part of theacademic profile in HFA/AS. Reading com-prehension due to the critical thinking andverbal reasoning components also may be im-pacted by the theory of mind and attentiondeficits (Griswold et al., 2002).

Writing

Both written expression and graphomotorskills are identified as weaknesses for studentswith HFA/AS. Graphomotor skill deficits maybe caused by motor coordination difficulties.Written expression may be impacted by theorganization and attention deficits. Sixty per-cent of individuals with HFA/AS also havewriting learning disabilities (Mayes & Cal-houn, 2003a, 2008).

Mathematics

Review of the literature suggests that childrenwith HFA/AS have average mathematical abil-ities. Computational skills appear to be intactfor this population. However, complex prob-lem solving within this domain impacts ap-plied mathematical ability. Organizationaland attention skills may also impact multiplestep problem solving. Reading comprehen-sion deficits may also impact grade level wordproblems. Deficit areas other than mathemat-ical computation may account for the signifi-cant difference between average to above av-erage IQ and average mathematical abilityfindings. Dickerson Mayes and Calhoun(2003a, 2008) report that 23% of the studentswith HFA/AS meet criteria for a mathematicslearning disability.

Implications for Practitioners

The review of the literature suggests that thereis an academic profile of students withHFA/AS (Mayes & Calhoun, 2003a 2003b;Barnhill et al., 2000; Goldstein et al., 1994;Griswold et al., 2002; Minshew et al., 1994).The value of knowing the profile allows for abasic understanding of how to teach childrenwith HFA/AS (Griswold et al.). However, whatis true for the group may not be true for eachindividual (Mayes & Calhoun, 2003a). Giventhe heterogeneous nature of the disorder, a

huge range of functioning across studentsmay exist. Knowing that a child has HFA/ASmay be little value to the teacher. The use ofglobal scores to assess academic functioningin reading and mathematics may fail to iden-tify deficits (Minshew et al.) Therefore, It isimportant to look at the whole child as well asitem analysis of subtest performances to guideindividual interventions (Griswold et al.).Teachers need the individual subtest analysisof assessments to build individual educationplans. For example, knowing that a studentwith HFA/AS scores in the 95th percentile onoverall academic skills on the Woodcock John-son Tests of Achievement is less importantthen knowing that the student scored in the47th percentile ranking on reading compre-hension and the 76th percentile ranking inapplied problems. The subtest scores allow ateacher to create an educational plan basedupon the support needs of the student as wellas the strengths of the student that a teachercan build upon. Building student portfoliosand pairing the information with formal as-sessment may give a teacher the best indica-tion of academic functioning (Griswold et al.).Once a teacher has developed an understand-ing of the specific needs of the student, thenhe/she must have access to research-basedpractices to address the student’s academicneeds.

In addition, practitioners can educate par-ents so they do not become frustrated with aperceived decline in academic functioningwhen tasks become more conceptual. Duringthis process, it is important for teachers tocommunicate effectively. This will involveteaching the parents about the new areas inthe academics and strategies that may be ben-eficial. Further, the teachers should explainthe tests to the parents in terms that are un-derstandable (i.e., minus the professional jar-gon).

Implications for Researchers

As aforementioned, researched-based aca-demic interventions for this population of stu-dents are sparse (Simpson, 2005). Since teach-ers typically are not trained in research-basedinterventions for their students with HFA/ AS(Smith Myles, 2005), they often rely on strat-egies researched with children with learning


disabilities yet children with HFA/AS mayneed further accommodations (Adreon & Du-rocher, 2007). The effectiveness of the learn-ing disability interventions, when used forchildren with HFA/AS, has not been ade-quately assessed. Researchers could begin toexplore the effectiveness of these interven-tions with the HFA/ AS population. Whendoing this, research could test learning strat-egies and meta-cognitive strategies that haveproved successful for learning disabilities anddetermine the necessary adaptations to meetthe unique cognitive and academic needs ofchildren with HFA/AS. By developing strate-gies that remediate or support the conceptuallearning of individuals with HFA/AS as theirneeds change during adolescences, quality oflife outcomes may be improved by successfulperformance school that may lead to success-ful post-secondary education and meaningfulemployment. In addition, researchers shouldbegin extending the researched based prac-tices that have proved successful in remediat-ing the social and communicative deficits tothe classroom setting.

Conclusions

In summary, children with HFA/AS have thepotential to become highly productive, con-tributing members of society and can developtheir specific skills so they are admired andhired for their talent (Grandin, Duffy, & At-wood, 2004). Students with HFA/AS need togain skill in all academic areas in order tograduate with a standard diploma, obtain sat-isfactory SAT or ACT scores and become ad-mitted to college. However, research in thearea of academic achievement of childrenwith HFA/AS is in the stage of infancy; result-ing in teachers often having to use strategiesresearched with individuals with learning dis-abilities. Future research teams should evalu-ate the effectiveness and efficiency of thesestrategies with individuals with HFA/AS.

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Received: 19 June 2008Initial Acceptance: 22 August 2008Final Acceptance: 12 January 2009


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