Abstract

ZANON, Regina Basso; BACKES, Bárbara  and  BOSA, Cleonice Alves. Autism diagnosis: relation among contextual, family and child factors. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2017, vol.19, n.1, pp. 152-163. ISSN 1516-3687.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1980-6906/psicologia.v19n1p164-175.

While recognizing that some difficulties that characterize the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be identified in early infancy, studies results show that many children are not diagnosed before school age which may delay their entry into early intervention programs, as well as specific parental guidance. This study aimed to investigate the age of realization of ASD diagnosis in Brazilian participants and their relationship with the contextual, family and child variables. We conducted a cross-sectional and correlational study, carried out based on data collected in a survey (online) and involving 136 parents of individuals with ASD. Among the main findings, it stands out the moderate and positive correlation between the variables child's age and age of completion of the ASD diagnosis. The implications of the results and the methodological limitations of the study were discussed.

Keywords : autism; diagnosis; survey; child; family.

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