Parent-reported Social-communication Changes in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK

Overview

Journal Int J Dev Disabil

Date 2023 Apr 7

PMID 37025339

Authors

Phoebe O Morris

Edward Hope

Tom Foulsham

John P Mills

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has swept across the United Kingdom (UK). Given the ever-evolving situation, little is known about the repercussions of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therefore, this study explores the social-communicative impact of the first lockdown (March 2020 - July 2020) in the UK and the return to school period (September 2020 - October 2020), following prolonged disruption to routine, in children diagnosed with ASD. : Parents of autistic children completed 2 separate online surveys following the first lockdown in the UK ( = 176) and also when children returned to school following the summer break ( = 54). : The results suggested that self-regulation skills ( < .05) and co-operation skills ( < .05) were most affected over the course of the lockdown. Children's physical activity levels were perceived to significantly increase during the return to school ( < .0001), which was associated with better social-communication outcomes ( < .05). : Future work is needed to confirm and explore the findings. Such work could be implemented to protect and improve the social-communicative outcomes of autistic children.

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