Despite growing knowledge of the effectiveness of various interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), it is never clear whether a particular intervention will be effective for a specific child with ASD. Careful monitoring of an individual child's progress is necessary to know whether an intervention is effective. In this review, we examined intervention research studies focused on children with ASD in Grades K-12 that involve parents, teachers, and other school staff as data collectors. We describe the strategies that have been used in the 40 identified research studies to monitor progress in the areas of behavior and social communication. The results highlight monitoring strategies that may be helpful for parents and teachers to apply, and the discussion provides related suggestions to guide future research and practice.

Participating in postsecondary activities such as education and employment can increase an individual's independence, contribution to society, and quality of life. However, researchers suggest that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in these postsecondary activities less than their peers do. The extent to which academic and social skills predict postsecondary outcomes for students with ASD is not yet understood. Logistic regression analyses using the National Longitudinal Transition Study -2 (NLTS2;SRI, 2000) dataset were conducted to examine the extent to which academic skills and social skills predict postsecondary outcomes for students with ASD. Results suggested that academic achievement was significantly related to postsecondary education and overall success and that social skills significantly predicted all three postsecondary outcomes for students with ASD.