May 2008

Project targets child autism, Asperger syndrome

Many high functioning adults with autism and Asperger syndrome say it would have been helpful to be informed of their condition when they were young.

With this in mind, the Alfred Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) conducted a unique pilot study to explore the factors which influence parents’ decisions to tell a child about their condition, the method they used and the impact of their decision.

In the Developmental Assessment Program pilot project speech pathologist Mary Fleming and the team surveyed parents of children with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism (with no concurrent intellectual disability) at Alfred CAMHS over a five year period.

Findings showed most parents chose to tell their children with the age varying from 5 to 11 depending on the child’s developmental progress.

Some children perceived they were ‘different,’ some viewed it as a ‘bad’ stamp, while others rejected the news.

The child’s age, developmental level and perceived ‘readiness’ were important factors influencing a parent’s decision to tell.

Fear of stigmatising the child was cited as a major reason for reluctance to tell.

In the majority of cases, ‘knowing’ increased communication between the parents and children.

The CAMHS assessment team is in the process of developing a more detailed follow-up study involving a greater number of participants to provide more statistically-sound findings.

CAMHS child psychiatrist Jennifer Harrison said most parents told their children.

‘Without knowing their diagnosis, many children have no explanation about why they find certain aspects of learning and socialising difficult,’ Dr Harrison said.

‘If schools are unaware of the diagnosis, children may miss out on the important support and specialist resources so widely available and used.’

Typically, children show signs of autism before the age of three.

The most common symptoms are both developmental and language delays.

Autism can be diagnosed either with or without an intellectual disability.

Children may be eligible to attend specialist schools for autistic children, while those with higher functioning autism may attend regular schools.

Children with Asperger syndrome have normal level IQ and language development.

They typically show signs of Asperger syndrome when they reach kindergarten age.

Problems can include difficulty with social interaction and understanding the social use of language and other cognitive processes.