Study Findings on Autism Reported by Researchers at University of Western Australia (Perceived Support Needs of School-Aged Young People on the Autism Spectrum and Their Caregivers): Developmental Diseases and Conditions – Autism

Mental Health News Daily

2022 DEC 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Mental Health News Daily -- New research on autism is the subject of a new report. According to news reporting from Perth, Australia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “With increasing demands for health, disability and education services, innovative approaches can help distribute limited resources according to need.”

Funders for this research include National Disability Insurance Agency; National Health And Medical Research Council.

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from University of Western Australia: “Despite an increased focus on support needs within the clinical pathway and policy landscape, the body of research knowledge on this topic is at a relatively early stage. However, there appears to be a sense of unmet support needs and dissatisfaction with the provision of required support following an autism diagnosis amongst caregivers of young people on the spectrum. The primary aim of this study was to explore the perceived support needs of Australian school-aged young people on the spectrum and their caregiver(s). This was achieved using a phenomenographic Support Needs Interview conducted by occupational therapists during home-visits with caregivers of 68 young people on the spectrum (5-17 years). Qualitative data analysis resulted in two hierarchical outcome spaces, one each for young people and their caregivers, indicating interacting levels of support need areas that could be addressed through a combination of suggested supports. These support needs and suggested supports align with almost all chapters within the Body Functions, Activities and Participation and Environmental Factors domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The overall goals of meeting these complex and interacting support needs were for the young people to optimize their functioning to reach their potential and for caregivers to ensure the sustainability of their caregiving capacity. A series of recommendations for support services, researchers and policy makers have been made to position support needs as central during the assessment, support and evaluation phases.”

For more information on this research see: Perceived Support Needs of School-Aged Young People on the Autism Spectrum and Their Caregivers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022,19(15605):15605. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). The publisher for International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315605.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Kiah Evans, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia. Additional authors for this research include Andrew J. O. Whitehouse, Emily D’Arcy, Maya Hayden-Evans, Kerry Wallace, Rebecca Kuzminski, Rebecca Thorpe, Sonya Girdler, Benjamin Milbourn, Sven Bolte, Angela Chamberlain.