Adaptive behavior among adults with intellectual disabilities and its relationship to community independence.
ABAS-II scores forecast how independently adults with ID will live and work—use them to size up support needs in minutes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Woolf et al. (2010) gave the ABAS-II to 272 adults with intellectual disability.
They asked: do these scores predict how independently the adults live and work?
No control group—just one test and a look at real-life settings.
What they found
Higher ABAS-II scores matched more independent homes and jobs.
The scores explained 40 % of the difference in who needed less support.
Adaptive skills, not IQ, told the story.
How this fits with other research
Dembo et al. (2023) built a shorter tool. Their 19-item AILMS does the same job faster and still links to support needs. It may replace the long ABAS-II for quick forecasts.
Dudley et al. (2019) showed IQ and adaptive scores stay almost unrelated in adults with ID. That backs Steve’s choice to skip IQ and focus on daily skills.
Burrows et al. (2018) found SIS-A scores stay flat for 1–3 years. Steve’s snapshot approach works because adaptive levels do not swing quickly.
Why it matters
You can open an ABAS-II, jot the global score, and get a clear guess at how much help an adult client will need for work and housing. If time is short, switch to the new 19-item AILMS for the same forecast. Either way, keep IQ out of the equation and plan supports around real-life skills.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined relationships between general adaptive behavior and the degree of community independence displayed by 272 adults with intellectual disabilities. Specifically, the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System--Second Edition (ABAS-II; Harrison & Oakland, 2003 ) was completed for each participant and compared with actual levels of work and residential independence. The participants' adaptive behavior accounted for 40%-43% of the variance in their work and residence independence. The results from this field-based study indicated that participants who displayed higher levels of adaptive behavior generally worked and lived more independently. Participants with the lowest general adaptive behavior required the highest degree of community supports. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-48.3.209