Accommodations & Impact Scale for Developmental Disabilities (AISDD)

Abstract

The Accommodations & Impact Scale for Developmental Disabilities (AISDD) is a robust 19-item rating instrument developed by Udhnani, Miller, & Lecavalier (2024). Its primary function is to quantify the daily burden, adjustments, and overall impact experienced by caregivers raising a child diagnosed with a developmental disability (DD). The scale’s development was grounded in extensive qualitative research, including caregiver interviews and comprehensive literature reviews, supplemented by expert feedback.

Initially comprising 133 items, the scale was rigorously refined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to its final 19-item structure. Validation studies utilized data from caregivers of children (aged 5–18) diagnosed with conditions such as intellectual disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or co-occurring diagnoses. The validation process successfully identified a clinically meaningful single-factor structure, demonstrating strong evidence of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity.

Keywords

Autism Spectrum Disorder, Caregiver Strain, Daily Accommodations, Developmental Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities, Rating Scale, Psychometrics, Family Impact

Authors

Manisha D. Udhnani, Judith S. Miller, Luc Lecavalier

Purpose

The primary purpose of the AISDD is to provide a standardized, quantitative assessment of the daily accommodations required and the subsequent psychosocial and practical impacts experienced by parents or guardians raising a child with a developmental disability (DD). This measurement allows researchers and clinicians to better understand the scope and severity of the daily challenges faced by these families.

By focusing specifically on day-to-day demands, the scale offers a granular view of the challenges that often necessitate significant changes in family structure, financial planning, and personal time management, thereby facilitating targeted support interventions and resource allocation.

Construct

The AISDD measures the overarching construct of the Impact of Raising a Child with a Developmental Disability. This construct encompasses the totality of demands placed upon the primary caregiver, including emotional stress, logistical adjustments, financial burdens, and limitations on personal freedom resulting from the child’s needs.

It moves beyond simple measures of stress to capture the necessary behavioral and environmental adjustments—the “accommodations”—that families implement daily to manage the symptoms and support needs associated with conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID).

Validity

The preliminary validation studies provided strong evidence for the convergent validity of the AISDD. The findings indicated substantial positive correlations between the AISDD total scores and established measures of caregiver burden and daily stressors.

Specifically, strong correlations were observed with the Parenting Daily Hassles Scale (PDH), yielding correlation coefficients of r = 0.77 (for frequency scores) and r = 0.69 (for intensity scores). Furthermore, the AISDD demonstrated a significant correlation (r = 0.77) with the global sum score of the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CSQ), confirming that the AISDD effectively measures similar dimensions of strain and difficulty experienced by caregivers.

Reliability

The psychometric evaluation confirmed the high internal consistency and temporal stability of the AISDD, suggesting the instrument provides reliable data for research and clinical purposes.

• Internal Consistency: The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency, evidenced by a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.93. The mean inter-item correlation was reported at 0.42, suggesting that the 19 items are highly related and measure a unified construct.
• Test-Retest Reliability: The stability of the scores over time was confirmed by a high Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.95 (p < 0.001) across a mean retest interval of 12.6 days. This high ICC value indicates exceptional temporal stability for the scale.

Factor Analysis

The scale development involved rigorous statistical reduction of the initial 133-item pool. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was the primary methodology used to determine the underlying structure of the items. Items were systematically eliminated if they exhibited high skewness, overly high inter-item correlations, low factor loadings (specifically below 0.45), or poor test-retest reliability.

The EFA ultimately supported a clear and clinically meaningful single-factor solution for the final 19-item instrument. The final scale demonstrated strong item performance, with a mean factor loading of 0.65, and successfully accounted for a significant proportion of the total variance in the construct being measured.

Instrument

Test Type: Rating Scale

Format: The 19 items are administered using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = “strongly disagree” to 5 = “strongly agree.” The administration method is electronic.

Language Available: English (as per original validation study)

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Adulthood (18+ years), specifically targeting adult caregivers.

Population Details: Respondents were caregivers residing in the United States, raising children aged 5–18 who had primary diagnoses of intellectual disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or both conditions.

Test Methodology: Test Validity; Convergent Validity; Test Reliability; Internal Consistency; Test-Retest Reliability; Factor Analysis; Exploratory Factor Analysis

Keywords

Psychological Assessment, Caregiver Burden, Developmental Disabilities, Autism, Intellectual Disability, Family Accommodation, Parental Stress, Rating Scale

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: The primary contact email for correspondence is [email protected] (Manisha D. Udhnani).

Correspondence Address:

• Manisha D. Udhnani: Nisonger Center, Ohio State University
• Judith S. Miller: Center for Autism Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Luc Lecavalier: Nisonger Center, Ohio State University

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The AISDD was published and validated in 2024. Information regarding specific licensing fees or permissions for clinical use must be obtained directly from the corresponding author, Manisha D. Udhnani. No direct download file (PDF or otherwise) was available for public access at the time of publication of this entry.

Reference’s

Udhnani, M. D., Miller, J. S., & Lecavalier, L. (2024). Development and preliminary validation of the Accommodations & Impact Scale for Developmental Disabilities. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54(5), 1870–1881. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05929-4

Items of the Accommodations & Impact Scale for Developmental Disabilities (AISDD)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The specific text of the 19 scale items was not provided in the source content available for this entry. Therefore, the items cannot be reproduced here.