Comparison of a direct and an indirect approach for the functional assessment of insistence on sameness in a child with autism spectrum disorder and a typically developing child

Abstract

Objective: To compare indirect and direct functional assessment of insistence on sameness associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development. Methods: Parents rated the function of insistence on sameness for a 6-year-old boy with ASD (Peter) and a typically developing 4-year-old boy (Nathan) using the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS). Ratings were compared to the results of a direct assessment. Results: The results of the assessment procedures were mainly consistent for Peter and suggested that his tendency to insist on sameness was maintained by sensory consequences. The finding of an attention function for Nathan in the play-based assessment was consistent with previous functional assessment studies surrounding typically developing children, but in contrast to the MAS. Conclusion: While the play-based assessment may be more suitable for assessing the high rate insistence on sameness observed in individuals with ASD, the MAS may be more suitable for low rate insistence on sameness.

• Autism spectrum disorder
• functional assessment
• insistence on sameness
• play-based assessment
• problem behaviour
• typical development

Acknowledgments

The authors have obtained ethical clearance from the Human Research Ethics Committee (Tasmania). Ethical guidelines and procedures have been followed in accord with National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines.

Declaration of interest

The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is solely responsible for the content and writing of the article. This research was supported by grants from the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disabilities: Research to Practice (ASID Australasian and Tasmania branch) and was presented in part at the 48th ASID Australasian conference, Sydney, Australia, 2013.