Table 2. Distributions of covariates within each group [95% confidence intervals].
| Autism Spectrum Disorder | Speech-Language Impairment | Learning Disability | Mental Retardation | |
| Age | ||||
| 13 & 14 | 33.0% [28.5, 37.8] | 44.4% [39.8, 49.1] | 31.5% [28.1, 35.0] | 27.0% [23.5, 30.9] |
| 15 | 22.9% [19.6, 26.5] | 22.7% [19.9, 25.7] | 24.2% [21.1, 27.5] | 23.1% [19.9, 26.7] |
| 16 | 26.3% [22.6, 30.4] | 20.1% [16.3, 24.5] | 26.0% [22.4, 29.9] | 28.3% [24.9, 32.0] |
| 17 | 17.8% [14.8, 21.4] | 12.8% [10.5, 15.7] | 18.4% [15.3, 22.0] | 21.6% [18.4, 25.1] |
| Female | 15.5% [13.0, 18.5] | 37.8% [33.5, 42.3] | 33.0% [29.4, 37.0] | 43.1% [39.5, 46.7] |
| Hispanic | 11.0% [7.3, 16.4] | 19.1% [9.8, 33.7] | 20.8% [15.9, 26.7] | 10.9% [7.7, 15.3] |
| Race | ||||
| White | 65.1% [59.4, 70.4] | 65.1% [55.8, 73.4] | 66.8% [59.7, 73.3] | 57.4% [51.7, 63.0] |
| African- American | 22.7% [17.8, 28.4] | 16.5% [12.4, 21.5] | 16.7% [12.7, 21.6] | 32.2% [27.1, 37.7] |
| Other | 12.2% [9.4, 15.8] | 18.4% [12.0, 27.2] | 16.5% [12.8, 20.8] | 10.4% [8.2, 13.1] |
| Income | ||||
| < $25,000 | 22.0% [18.0, 26.5] | 26.4% [20.5, 33.3] | 30.7% [26.0, 35.8] | 50.6% [45.8, 55.4] |
| $25,001–50,000 | 31.9% [27.5, 36.7] | 34.3% [30.0, 39.0] | 33.5% [29.8, 37.4] | 31.1% [27.0, 35.4] |
| $50,001–75,000 | 23.2% [19.6, 27.1] | 23.7% [19.2, 28.9] | 24.5% [20.3, 29.3] | 11.8% [9.3, 14.8] |
| > $75,000 | 23.0% [18.7, 27.9] | 15.5% [11.2, 21.1] | 11.3% [8.7, 14.6] | 6.6% [4.6, 9.2] |
| Externalizing behaviors (mean) | 4.1 [3.9, 4.3] | 3.4 [3.3, 3.5] | 3.9 [3.7, 4.1] | 4.2 [4.0, 4.3] |
| How well youth converses | ||||
| No trouble | 13.4% [10.6, 16.7] | 61.2% [55.2, 66.9] | 75.8% [71.4, 79.6] | 44.1% [40.3, 48.0] |
| A little trouble | 31.1% [27.1, 35.3] | 29.9% [25.9, 34.3] | 21.0% [17.6, 24.9] | 34.4% [31.0, 37.9] |
| A lot of trouble | 38.8% [34.7, 43.1] | 8.6% [6.0, 12.1] | 3.2% [2.2, 4.7]a | 17.0% [13.9, 20.6] |
| No conversation | 16.7% [12.5, 22.1] | 0.3% [0.1, 1.1] | 4.6% [3.2, 6.6] | |
| Social communication (mean) | 2.9 [2.7, 3.1] | 5.0 [4.8, 5.3] | 5.3 [5.1, 5.6] | 4.6 [4.5, 4.8] |
| Functional cognitive skills (mean) | 10.9 [10.4, 11.4] | 14.3 [14.0, 14.7] | 14.0 [13.8, 14.3] | 11.3 [11.0, 11.6] |
| ADHD | 34.3% [29.9, 38.9] | 19.2% [15.8, 23.0] | 33.5% [29.4, 37.8] | 29.9% [26.1, 34.0] |
| Type of school | ||||
| Regular | 85.4% [79.7, 89.7] | 95.2% [92.4, 97.1] | 95.4% [92.4, 97.3] | 93.8% [91.2, 95.7] |
| Special | 10.4% [6.7, 15.9] | 4.8% [2.9, 7.6]b | 4.6% [2.7, 7.6]b | 3.6% [2.2, 5.7] |
| Other | 4.2% [2.6, 6.7] | 2.7% [1.5, 4.5] | ||
| School size (mean) | 1,354 [1,204,1,503] | 1,377 [1,218, 1,536] | 1,346 [1,254, 1,437] | 1,153 [1,077, 1,229] |
| Any part of day spent in special classroom | 88.2% [83.8, 91.6] | 63.4% [56.7, 69.7] | 73.2% [68.3, 77.6] | 94.5% [90.8, 96.8] |
Source: National Longitudinal Transition Study 2.
Notes: Number of multiply imputed data sets = 50. Weighted to population levels. Variances adjusted for sampling method.
The “A lot of trouble” and “No conversation” category estimates for ‘How well youth converses’ were combined for the Learning Disability group in compliance with U.S. Department of Education rules aimed at preventing data disclosure in instances where point estimates are based on very few underlying cases.
The “Special” and “Other” category estimates for ‘Type of school’ were combined for the Speech-Language Impairment and Learning Disability groups in compliance with U.S. Department of Education rules aimed at preventing data disclosure in instances where point estimates are based on very few underlying cases.