Mattinson Shani, Falkmer Marita, Black Melissa H, Girdler Sonya
School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
CHILD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University, Sweden.
Scand J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Psychol. 2019 Jan 7;6:170-182. doi: 10.21307/sjcapp-2018-018. eCollection 2018.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous condition, influencing participation in activity and occupation. Approximately, 1% of Australian children have an ASD diagnosis, with many of these families living in remote and regional areas. Given the environments role in facilitating or hindering participation, there is a need to understand how geographical location impacts the participation profiles of children with ASD.
This study aims to describe the participation profiles, and environmental barriers and facilitators to participation for children with ASD living in regional or remote Western Australia.
A total of 32 families completed a questionnaire pack including a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Participation and Environment Measure - Children and Youth.
Children with ASD had reduced participation in community activities. Within the home, children most commonly participated in computer and video games, and in school settings, children participated rarely in non-classroom and extracurricular activities. Parents reported a desire for their children to decrease time spent engaging in video games and increase time spent in the community, socializing, engaging in extracurricular activities, and completing chores. Parents reported a number of barriers to participation across community, home, and school settings.
Children with ASD living in regional areas had restricted participation profiles and a number of barriers to participation as reported by their parents. There is a need for additional support and services in non-metropolitan areas for families of children with ASD to increase participation. This study also highlights the need to expand the definition of participation in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health to include aspects of involvement.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种异质性疾病，会影响个体参与活动和职业。澳大利亚约1%的儿童被诊断患有ASD，其中许多家庭居住在偏远和地区。鉴于环境在促进或阻碍参与方面的作用，有必要了解地理位置如何影响ASD儿童的参与情况。
本研究旨在描述居住在西澳大利亚州偏远或地区的ASD儿童的参与情况，以及参与的环境障碍和促进因素。
共有32个家庭完成了一套问卷，包括社会人口学问卷和参与与环境量表——儿童与青少年版。
ASD儿童参与社区活动的机会减少。在家中，儿童最常参与电脑和电子游戏，在学校环境中，儿童很少参与非课堂和课外活动。家长们表示希望孩子减少玩电子游戏的时间，增加在社区活动、社交、参与课外活动和做家务的时间。家长们报告了在社区、家庭和学校环境中参与的一些障碍。
居住在偏远地区的ASD儿童参与情况受限，家长报告了一些参与障碍。需要为非大都市地区ASD儿童家庭提供更多支持和服务，以增加其参与度。本研究还强调有必要在《国际功能、残疾和健康分类》中扩大参与的定义，以纳入参与的各个方面。
