Brief report: parental perceptions of helpfulness of support services for autistic children

Purpose: This study explores parental perceptions of the helpfulness of support services for autistic children, including psychological and behavioural interventions, pharmacological interventions, and (practical) guidance services.

Methods: Parents of 210 children with autism (aged 16 or younger, mean age 12.1) filled in a survey about service use of their child and services’ perceived helpfulness.

Results: Early intensive behavioural interventions, such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), as well as pharmacological treatments, like Aripiprazole, Risperidone and Methylphenidate, received high helpfulness ratings despite infrequent use. Conversely, guidance services, such as support for school or social relationships, were widely utilized but rated less helpful.

Conclusion: Support services with evidence of impact on abilities, skills and irritability ranked high on perceived helpfulness, suggesting some alignment between perceived helpfulness and proven effectiveness of support services. Low helpfulness ratings for guidance services indicate the need for improvement, like tailoring programs to better meet the child’s needs. However, parental perceptions might not always match with the child’s own perspective. This study underscores the need to look beyond traditional outcome measures such as changes in autism-related characteristics. We should integrate the perspectives of autistic individuals and their families in the design and evaluation of support services.