RESEARCH PAPER
Concerns and challenges faced by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder during the coronavirus pandemic in Indian scenario
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1
Communicative Disorders Assistant, Speech Wonders Inc., Canada
2
Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), India
3
Sriram Speech and Hearing Clinic, India
Submission date: 2024-05-28
Final revision date: 2024-07-26
Acceptance date: 2024-07-27
Online publication date: 2024-09-25
Corresponding author
Amudhu Sankar
Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Department of Speech Language Pathology, 600116, Porur, Chennai, India
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
The coronavirus pandemic has prevented children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from procuring clinical services which have led to changes in lifestyle and daily routines. Also, the parents of children with ASD were concerned regarding maintaining routines and introducing new experiences to their children during the pandemic. This is a cross-sectional study that explored the concerns and challenges faced by parents of children with ASD during the coronavirus pandemic.
Aim:
The main objectives of this study were to profile the communication difficulties and environmental changes adopted by parents of children with ASD who did not have proper access to healthcare/rehab facilities during the pandemic in Indian scenario.
Material and methods:
In total, 51 parents of children with ASD in the age range of 3 to 10 years participated in this study. They were asked to fill in a questionnaire (Google form) that had 20 close ended questions on their children's prelinguistic skills, communication behaviors, behavioral aspects, and emotional variations before and during the pandemic.
Results and discussion:
The results revealed that children with ASD exhibited significant emotional and behavioral upheaval due to interruptions in routine connected to COVID-19. Depending on the severity of the disorder, children had difficulty in several tasks such as comprehension of simple commands and expression of daily needs. Also, the parents of children with ASD were concerned about maintaining routines and introducing new experiences to their children during the pandemic.
Conclusions:
Individuals with ASD are a significant population who may require special assistance during the pandemic and future public health crises.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge all the parents who had participated in this study, the experts who had validated the questionnaire and faculty of SRFASLP for their suport.
FUNDING
None declared.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.
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