This study set out to investigate whether the triad of impairments and severe challenging behaviour had an impact on the lifestyle of adults living in staff-supported community housing using data collected on 427 adults living in 146 staffed houses.

The authors found that after controlling for adaptive behaviour, there were no significant differences between those with and without the triad of impairments.

They found that those with severe challenging behaviour received more staff attention, but were similar in terms of social, community and household activities.

The authors conclude that low adaptive behaviour had a negative impact on lifestyle outcomes, and that compared to this the presence of autistic spectrum disorders or severe challenging behaviour had little effect.

The Impact of Autism or Severe Challenging Behaviour on Lifestyle Outcome in Community Housing, Felce, D. et al, in Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 24: 95–104.