Parental Views of Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Bekir Fatih Meral
PMID 33991289WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of children with autism described the lockdown as a mix of strain and unexpected gain.
They reported lost school support and social isolation, but also more time together, improved father-child interaction, and new self-care or verbal skills in their children.
Key findings
01The most common positive family change was increased time together and interaction, reported by 56.2% of parents.
02Unmet educational needs were the most cited negative impact on the child, reported by 40.6% of parents.
03Parents reported their children showed increased verbal behaviors (25%) and self-care skills (18.7%) during the lockdown.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was small (32 parents) and geographically restricted to Istanbul, a major city heavily impacted by quarantine, which may not reflect rural experiences. Data collection occurred only during the first three months of the pandemic, so it captures acute adaptation rather than long-term effects. The study could not compare families of children with ASD to those with other developmental disabilities due to sample size constraints. Economic impacts were not directly measured, though parents reported financial stress, limiting the ability to separate economic strain from disability-related strain.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the reported improvements in verbal and self-care skills as evidence that lockdown was beneficial for development. These are parental perceptions of short-term changes during a crisis, not controlled outcomes, and they coexist with significant unmet educational and social needs.