Amanda Malligo

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Trends

Author Order

Document Type

Co-Authors

Christopher J. Smith

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Nicole L. Matthews

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Sharman Ober‐Reynolds

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Janet Kirwan

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Elena L. Pollard

Dalhousie University

Micah A. Mammen

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Sarah L. Kiefer

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Jessica James

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Erica Skepnek

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Audrey Lyon

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Cooperative Institutions

Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center

Arizona State University

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

University of California, San Diego

Pennsylvania State University

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Barrow Neurological Institute

Grand Valley State University

Gravesham Community Hospital

Montefiore Medical Center

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Field

Revisiting Cognitive and Adaptive Functioning in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2014)

Nicole L. Matthews Elena L. Pollard Sharman Ober‐Reynolds Janet Kirwan Amanda Malligo

Borderline intellectual functioning

Adaptive functioning

Pervasive developmental disorder

Cognitive skill

10.1007/s10803-014-2200-0

Cite

Citations (49)

A Method for Universal Screening of Elementary School Students: Development of the Social Challenges Screening Questionnaire

Journal of Applied School Psychology (2015)

Christopher J. Smith Elena L. Pollard Alexander J. Stein Sharman Ober‐Reynolds Janet Kirwan

Schools regularly screen students for hearing and vision impairments because they present impediments to academic progress. For the same reason, schools should consider adding a universal screening for social challenges, which may also impede the learning process. This study reports on the development of the Social Challenges Screening Questionnaire (SCSQ), an efficient teacher-report screening questionnaire that identifies students with challenges who may benefit from a psychological evaluation. Further, the questionnaire may help identify students with Autism Spectrum Disorder who were previously undiagnosed. The SCSQ was administered to 549 general education students in the third and fourth grades. Internal consistency was.85. A smaller sample of students (n = 50) was selected for additional follow up assessment using the Social Responsiveness Questionnaire, Second Edition. Scores on the two instruments were strongly correlated (r =.87, p <.01), and sensitivity (.94) and specificity (.88) indicate the SCSQ can efficiently detect students with social challenges in need of a formal evaluation.

10.1080/15377903.2014.995391

Cite

Citations (5)

Feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth model for autism diagnostic evaluations in children, adolescents, and adults

Autism Research (2021)

Nicole L. Matthews Erica Skepnek Micah A. Mammen Jessica James Amanda Malligo

This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth diagnostic model deployed at an autism center in the southwestern United States to safely provide autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic evaluations to children, adolescents, and adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included all clients for whom a telehealth diagnostic evaluation was scheduled at the diagnostic clinic (n = 121) over a 6-month period. Of 121 scheduled clients, 102 (84%) completed the telehealth evaluation. A diagnostic determination was made for 91% of clients (93 out of 102) using only telehealth procedures. Nine participants (two females; ages 3 to 11 years) required an in-person evaluation. Responses from psychologist and parent acceptability surveys indicated the model was acceptable for most clients. Psychologist ratings suggested that telehealth modalities used in the current study may be less acceptable for evaluating school-aged children with subtle presentations compared to children in the early developmental period, adolescents, and adults. Parents of females reported higher acceptability than parents of males. Findings contribute to the small but growing literature on feasibility and acceptability of telehealth evaluations for ASD and have implications for improving access to care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. LAY SUMMARY: This study described telehealth methods for evaluating children, adolescents, and adults for autism spectrum disorder. Telehealth methods were generally acceptable to psychologists conducting the evaluations and parents of diagnostic clients. Psychologists reported the methods to be less acceptable for school-aged children and parents of males found the methods less acceptable than parents of females. The telehealth methods described may help to increase access to diagnostic professionals and reduce wait times for evaluations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telehealth

Pandemic

10.1002/aur.2591

Cite

Citations (24)

Adaptive Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder During the Transition to Adulthood

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2015)

Nicole L. Matthews Christopher J. Smith Elena L. Pollard Sharman Ober‐Reynolds Janet Kirwan

Adaptive functioning

Cognitive skill

Social Skills

Socialization

10.1007/s10803-015-2400-2

Cite

Citations (92)

Toward the identification of adaptive functioning intervention targets for intellectually‐able, transition‐aged youth with autism: An examination of caregiver responses on the Vineland‐II

Autism Research (2017)

Nicole L. Matthews Amanda Malligo Christopher J. Smith

Little is known about specific adaptive functioning impairments in intellectually-able individuals with autism spectrum disorder. In adolescents (n = 22) and young adults (n = 22) matched on composite IQ scores, this study examined profiles of cognitive and adaptive functioning, and caregiver responses on individual Vineland-II items. Adaptive functioning standard scores were significantly lower than IQ scores, and the adult group had significantly lower adaptive functioning standard scores than the adolescent group. Examination of caregiver responses to individual Vineland-II items identified more than 100 potential intervention targets. Differences favoring the adult group were observed on only 16 items across all three adaptive functioning domains, suggesting that little skill development is occurring during the transition to adulthood. Future research will examine the relevance of identified intervention targets to optimal outcomes. Autism Res 2017, 10: 2023-2036. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability demonstrated impaired adaptive functioning skills (i.e., age appropriate skills necessary for independent living). Development of adaptive functioning skills appears to slow with age among individuals without intellectual disability. Findings clarify the specific adaptive functioning skills that transition-aged youth with ASD have difficulty completing independently and will inform the development of interventions to increase the likelihood of independent living in adulthood.

Identification

Adaptive functioning

10.1002/aur.1855

Cite

Citations (7)