A meta-analysis of self-management interventions for students with ASD

Background: Self-management interventions (SMI) are a broad class of interventions used to teach students to assess, monitor, and adjust their own behavior without direct intervention from an educator. SMI support students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to learn valuable selfawareness and self-determination skills for better outcomes in adulthood. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were employed to examine the students with ASD who are likely to benefit from SMIs in educational settings, the conditions these interventions are effective under, and identify the discrete intervention packages, social validity, and anticipated effects of the intervention. Results: This review examined 62 single case designs with adequate quality and rigor in 18 studies, including 34 cases and 53 students with ASD. Findings indicating limited participant and intervention condition reporting within the evidence-base. Conclusions: Lack of translational reporting of ASD characteristics, implementation conditions, and training methods limited conclusions about for whom and under what conditions. Further, the majority of studies in the evidence base focused exclusively on self-monitoring interventions to address engagement behaviors, indicating a need for further examination of other selfmanagement components. Future directions of translational research of SMI for students with ASD are discussed.