Improving academic performance through a school-based intervention targeting academic executive functions - a pilot study

Background Academic challenges such as losing/not turning in assignments, misplacing materials, and inefficient studying are common in middle-school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability. Deficits in organization, planning, prioritizing, memory/materials management, and studying skills [i.e. academic executive functioning (EF) deficits] contribute to these challenges. Objectives To assess the feasibility, satisfaction, and initial efficacy of the school-based version of the Achieving Independence and Mastery in School (AIMS) intervention in a proof-of-concept trial with 6 students with ASD. Methods 6 middle-schoolers with ASD without ID participated in AIMS. Parents and teachers rated academic EFs and functioning. Results Results suggest high feasibility, youth satisfaction, and improved EF skills and academic behaviors by parent and teacher report. Conclusion These promising results support further intervention development and suggest that academic EF skills are malleable in students with ASD.