The Association Between Autism Spectrum Traits and the Successful Transition to Mainstream Secondary School in an Austra
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The Association Between Autism Spectrum Traits and the Successful Transition to Mainstream Secondary School in an Australian School‑Based Sample Moira Whelan1 · Jane McGillivray1 · Nicole J. Rinehart1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The transition to secondary school is an important educational milestone impacting wellbeing and academic achievement. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder may be vulnerable during transition however little is known about how Autism Spectrum (AS) traits influence transition outcomes. Generalised estimating equations were used to examine how AS traits were associated with four indicators of successful transition in a school-based sample of 51 students. Higher AS traits were associated with lower quality of life, school belonging and mental health, however the hypothesised decline after school transition was not supported. Characteristics of both the primary and secondary school appeared to be contributing to the wellbeing of students with high AS traits which could be clarified by further investigation with a larger sample. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder · School transition · Quality of life · School belonging · Academic achievement · Mental health The transition from primary to secondary school is considered to be one of the most challenging transitions that a student will encounter in their educational journey (Adreon and Stella 2001; Zeedyk et al. 2003) with implications for Quality of Life (QOL) (Gillison et al. 2008), academic achievement (Akos et al. 2015; West and Schwerdt 2012; West et al. 2010), school connectedness (Hebron 2017) and mental health (Waters et al. 2012). It usually entails a shift from a smaller, more intimate school to one that is larger, more diverse and requires students to navigate more complex social and educational systems (Adreon and Stella 2001; Anderson et al. 2000). While many students embrace these challenges, some vulnerable students can find themselves ill-prepared for the adjustments that need to be made (Evangelou et al. 2008; West et al. 2010), losing confidence in their ability to cope with organisational, social and academic challenges (Coelho and Romào 2017; Symonds and Galton 2014) and being at risk of disengagement from school * Moira Whelan [email protected] 1
Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Waterfront Campus, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
(Crump and Slee 2015). Difficult transitions impact both the student’s current mental health and future wellbeing, as well as being associated with poorer academic achievement and school dropout (Anderson et al. 2000; Hanewald 2013; Waters et al. 2012; West et al. 2010). Therefore, it is important to be able to identify, and support, students who may be at risk of making an unsuccessful school transition. A number of vulnerable groups have been identified in the transition literature including those from families with lower socio-economic status (Eva
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