Why
COVID-19 (coronavirus) caused major disruption across the world. It impacting everyone’s lives, including people on the autism spectrum, people with special needs and their families.
There was limited research about the effects of statewide emergency crises on Autistic children and children with special needs.
What have Autistic people and people with special needs found difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic? How can Autistic people and people with special needs be supported during crises?
The research
A growing international collaboration of more than 60 researchers took part in a project to investigate how Autistic people, people with special needs and their families across the world coped with the pandemic.
From April to July 2020, an online survey gathered information from more than 6000 families globally about:
- What stresses they faced during the pandemic
- What strategies they used to cope during the crisis.
ARCAP studied the responses of 74 Australian parents of children with special needs, 87% of which were parents of autistic children. We were interested to learn about the anxiety concerns of autistic children, children with special needs and their parents during the pandemic. We were also interested in the coping strategies used by children.
What we learnt
COVID-19-related anxiety and concerns
For parents
- 68% child's ability to cope with changes in their routine
- 61% loss of institutional support ((e.g. school, workplace) for child
- 61% child has few occasions for social contact and interaction
For children (parent reports)
- 38% not being able to meet friends of peers
- 37% loss of routine
- 29% COVID-19 itself
Anxiety levels of 74% of parents and 46% of children increased during the pandemic.
There was a strong bi-directional relationship between children's and parents' COVID-19-related anxiety and concern. This mean children's concerns predicted parents' concerns and vice versa.
Coping strategies used by children (parent reports)
Most effective
- 42% established a daily routine
- 37% spent time alone
- 34% engaged in distracting activities
Least effective
- 66% used aggression
- 66% tried to change the way the child thought about the situation
- 65% suppressed negative emotions
Support needs
Parents identified the following support needs during the crisis:
- Social support for their child
- Access to support workers and services
- Affordable access to experienced psychologists
- Additional educational support
- Child-friendly social stories about COVID-19
- Support managing sensory, behavioural and emotional issues
- Access to accurate and truthful information
- Financial support
Clinical implications
The findings of this study highlight the importance of mental health clinicians supporting families of Autistic and special needs children to take into account the bi-directional relationship of anxiety.
This study will help build the evidence base on the needs of children with special needs including Autistic children and their families during crises and help to provide support at times of great disruption.
Research team
Dr Ru Ying Cai, Aspect Research Centre for Autism Practice (ARCAP)
Prof Andrea Samson, Swiss Distance University Institute & Institute of Special Education, University of Fribourg & Swiss Center for Affective Sciences
Dr Daniel Dukes, Faculty of Psychology, Swiss Distance University Institute & Institute of Special Education, University of Fribourg & Swiss Center for Affective Sciences
Dr Jo Van Herwegen, Institute of Education, University College London, UK
Started
2020
Ends
2021