Children With High Functioning Autism - 9243 Words

ABSTRACT Prior research exists which validates the risk of decreased emotional well-being in adults with autism. As a result, it becomes vitally important to identify factors that may contribute to this problem in order to provide increased supports and services to combat the issues. This quantitative comparative study sought to determine whether or not anxiety and/or depression (emotional well-being) of young adults with high-functioning autism is impacted by the possession or lack of a transition plan prior to their leaving high school, by comparing t-scores from the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition. A sample of 32 (N = 32) young adults with high-functioning autism ages 18 to 25 participated in the†¦show more content†¦ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my chair, Dr. Barry Last, committee member, Dr. Elizabeth Lozano, and the program chair, Dr. Akin Merino, for your support and allowing me the opportunity to reach this goal, despite having taken what was probably the longest road possible. Thank you to Debra Muzikar: You were the one who used your voice to help keep my project moving forward, and for this I will be forever grateful! Autism Society of the Inland Empire, Beth Burt, and Theresa McFarland: Thank you for accepting me and helping with candidate recruitment. Finally, â€Å"my humans,† thank you to those who have supported me along this path. Thank you to my editor, Dr. Sabrina Rood, who cheered me up at times when I thought there was no end to this tunnel and who helped turn my somewhat confusing words into sentences that read cohesively. Finally, thank you to Susanna Romig for helping me turn my data into beautiful visual aids. DEDICATION This research endeavor is dedicated to family, heroes, and my Rock. Family: My daughter, Kadyence Genevieve, who allowed Mommy to share her with friends and family while designing and implementing this project. My mother, Marlene, who has been supportive throughout this entire process. Heroes: Those who have positively impacted my life, both personally and professionally. Also those who bravely approach the world with a â€Å"different, not less† outlook every day, my fellow humans with