Challenging behaviors among children with autism spectrum disorders and multiple disabilities attending special schools in Singapore.

Poon (2012) visited special schools across Singapore. They asked teachers to fill out the Developmental Behavior Checklist for every student with autism or multiple disabilities.

The goal was simple: see which group shows more challenging behaviors and if the child’s diagnosis predicts the score.

Children with autism scored higher than peers with multiple disabilities on every part of the checklist. The child’s diagnosis alone predicted all behavior scores.

In plain words, autistic students showed more self-injury, tantrums, and repetitive behaviors than classmates with other developmental disabilities.

Kan et al. (2025) later surveyed the same Singapore schools. They widened the lens from behavior to quality of life and still found autistic students struggling the most, so the picture holds over time.

Dworschak et al. (2016) looked at over 1,600 students with intellectual disability in Europe. They also saw about half the children showing challenging behavior, but they could not explain much with single traits like gender or IQ. Poon (2012) narrows the focus and shows diagnosis itself is a strong flag.

Beqiraj et al. (2022) studied 71 special-education students and found that pro-social skills protect against challenging behavior. Poon (2012) did not measure social skills, so the two papers complement each other: diagnosis flags risk, while social teaching may lower that risk.

If you work in Singapore special schools, expect more intense challenging behavior from autistic students than from peers with multiple disabilities alone. Use this knowledge to plan higher staffing ratios, more visual supports, and quicker access to behavior specialists. Track behavior early and pair it with social-skills training, as later work suggests both steps together give the best chance for calm classrooms and engaged learners.