Abstract
The process of transition between different developmental stages gains specific importance for individuals with ASD. Parents of children with ASD will face the challenge of guiding this transition both during the stages of physical and psychological development, and academic and occupational phases. The purpose of this study was to examine the parental perception of skills development in children with ASD and the relationship to perceived elements required to transition between different developmental stages. This descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional, and correlational study included 32 participants, the parents of ASD diagnosed children (aged between 3 and 22 years). Participants ranged in age from 22 to 52 years; 84.4% of them were women. Main findings: The perception from most participants emphasizes poor ability in children, regardless of developmental stage, to communicate or express emotions, which is translated into poor school-related and social skills performance. The fact that overall parents believe that their children are dependent and will require assistance from them or other people to perform everyday activities in the social, school, and family settings is highlighted as well. Depending on the child’s stage of development, parents express different expectations matching their children’s own development. Parents expect their children to grow up to be independent in certain aspects, as children develop more self-care skills with increase in age. However, most parents perceive that the prospects of a promising future for their children will be limited by children’s poor skills.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) estimates that 1 in 162 children has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
This study found risk factors for parents, including overprotection of children with ASD; negative emotions, such as sadness, solitude, distress; concerns at the moment of diagnosis, and not knowing how to interact with the child and react to inappropriate behavior in social contexts
With the purpose of obtaining parental perceptions of skill development in children with ASD, the results obtained were analyzed by age group and skills as follows: language skills; routine, organization, and attention; academic activities; emotional expressiveness; social skills, and self-care
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) estimates that 1 in 162 children has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) describes that an ASD diagnosis requires children to present symptoms during the early development period that cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning These symptoms include: 1) persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts; deficits in socio-emotional reciprocity; exhibiting abnormal nonverbal communicative behaviors in social interaction; deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, such as difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts, difficulties in imaginative play and making friends, or showing no interest in other people; 2) restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, such as stereotyped or repetitive movements, use of objects, or speech; excessively rigid routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal and nonverbal behavior; highly restricted and fixed interests that are uncommonly intense; and hyper-or hyposensitivity to sensory input, or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (American Psychiatric Association, 2014)
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