The current study aimed to determine the level of functional performance of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its relationship to gender (male-female) and the severity of the disorder in special education centers in Amman. To achieve this, the study followed the descriptive survey approach through designing a special questionnaire to collect data, covering the following dimensions (social skills, motor skills, autonomy and daily life skills, communication skills, and language and receptive skills). The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of eighty-five students with ASD enrolled in special education centers in the Amman governorate. The results indicated the average level of functioning of ASD students. They further reported that functioning in the motor skills dimension was high, while their level of functioning in other skills (social skills, motor skills, autonomy and daily life skills, communication skills, and language and receptive skills) was low. The results, moreover, showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the level of functional performance among ASD students according to the gender variable, while there were statistical differences in the degree of functional performance according to the variable of the severity of the disorder, in favor of mild ASD students. The study recommended conducting further studies and preparing accurate measurement tools to determine the level of functional performance of people with ASD, addressing other variables and factors such as age, double disability, and so forth, which contribute to the development of appropriate treatment programs and interventions in light of these variables.
Worud Awamleh (Wed,) studied this question.