FND3003 - Early Diagnosis Of Autism And How It Impacts On Families Assignment Sample

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1. Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder resulting in social and communication impairment, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour. Timely identification of autism is therefore central in determining the child’s progress and enormously affects families with the difficulties and proactively facing the possibilities of autism (autism spectrum disorder, no date). For students seeking help with writing assignments, understanding the challenges and nuances of ASD is crucial.

ASD is on the rise, and based on current studies, affects 1 in 36 children with signs usually seen at the age of 18 months. Ideal detection could make it possible to provide early enough intercession that may enhance the child’s social, emotional as well as cognitive development. However, factors including late diagnosis, inadequate healthcare, and societal prejudice slow down this process, increasing the pressure on families. It is clinically proven that families with children with ASD suffer from various emotional, financial, and transportation pressures, which make early signs of ASD important equally for the child and the family (Stenberg et al., 2014).

The following proposal seeks to find out how early diagnosis of ASD affects families, and the study involves children ages 2-16 years.

2. Aim and Objectives

This study is meant to establish the effects early diagnosis has on families and the proportion of children with ASD aged between 2 and 16 years.

3. Research Questions

1. What is the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among children aged 2-16 years?
2. What emotional, social, and financial challenges do families face after an early ASD diagnosis?
3. How does early intervention impact the developmental outcomes of children with ASD?
4. How effective are current support systems for families managing ASD?

4. Rationale for the Research

ASD is a common neurodevelopment disorder characterized by difficulties in social communication and the presence of repetitive and/or limited interests or behaviours, impacting one in every 36 children, and the worldwide diagnosis rate has been increasing in the last 20 years. It is best to diagnose them as early as possible especially because studies show that treatments made before a child is three years of age may reduce the severity of the child’s developmental delays that may affect his or her ability to communicate or to relate to other people or even enhance the child’s overall brain development. That said, the data indicate that the mean age of diagnosis is still roughly four years, and children’s essential milestones are missed while they struggle, and their families face greater difficulties. Parents of children with ASD usually undergo a great deal of emotional, financial, and social burden. In a study carried out by the CDC, dependent on a child’s age, families can use up to $60,000 for therapies, doctor visits, and specialized education for a child with ASD. In addition, a study conducted by the National Autism Society showed that 59% of families assumed significant levels of burden with many parents citing feelings of isolation and anxiety (Hodges, Fealko and Soares, 2020). Gentles et al. (2023), show that diagnosing the disorder early and performing the required intervention lessens the impact of the symptoms and thus, increases the possibility of a favourable prognosis in children with ASD. Further, the National Institute of Mental Health notes that early identification also benefits the caregivers when they are connected to other caring figures and such assistance as counselling, financial aid, and information(Gentles et al., 2023). The presented study’s results will enable HC professionals to develop evidence-based best practices for early ASD screening and management that may enhance the developmental outcomes of children. Furthermore, the study seeks to bring into the limelight adequate support systems that are available and provide guidelines for policymakers to improve resource; availability to eliminate the disparities that exist in health care(Data and Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2024).

5. Literature Review

This literature review discusses areas of the literature in relation to the experiences of children with CMT4, with a specific focus on late diagnosis, early intervention, and family issues. This section confirms why there is a need for further research in this important field by reviewing previous work.

Importance of Early Diagnosis

A longitudinal comparison between the developmental trajectories of children diagnosed with ASD before the age of three and children diagnosed with ASD after the age of three was done by Rao et al. (2024). The study revealed an early diagnosis an important factor that explained the effectiveness in terms of language, cognitive performance, as well as social responsiveness. The study also revealed that the mean age of identification of this disorder remains at four to five years thus a tendency to interventions is observed. This supports the call for early identification so that a child’s development might be enhanced. Further, a report by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the proportion of the prevalence of the condition has gone up and that diagnostic equipment is available for those with the disorder and still, the rate of occurrences ranges depending on the minority of socioeconomic or racial status.

Early Childhood Education Benefits

Zorcec and Pop-Jordanova (2020), focused on the effects that early behavioural therapies and ESDM on children with ASD. In their specificity of intervention randomized controlled trial, they showed enhanced IQ and language development as well as higher functional behaviours in children who underwent intervention before the age of three. This evidence shall be used to support the proposition that early identification enables the family to avail of appropriate interventions that afford superior developmental benefits to children (Zorcec and Pop-Jordanova, 2020). Equally, Rizzo et al. (2024) investigated the efficacy of Parent-Mediated Early Interventions for young children with ASD(Rizzo et al., 2024).

Challenges Faced by Families

Yesilkaya and Magallón-Neri (2024), also used qualitative studies to determine the social and emotional effects of raising a child with ASD. In the study, parents’ experiences included feeling alone, nervous, or irritated mainly caused by perceived stigma and lack of resources. Another relatively frequent trend was financial as parents reported spending a vast amount of money on therapies, educational services, and treatments. It therefore becomes clear that more emphasis needs to be placed on efforts to overcome the system-related factors that have the potential to increase stress in families (Yesilkaya and Magallón-Neri, 2024). A survey by Ault et al. (2024), identified similar issues; it showed that 78 percent of families struggled with the multiplicity of tasks linked to health care and education systems for a child with ASD(Ault et al., 2024).

Gaps in Support Systems

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has prompted support systems here in that the challenge is brought to depict the less demanding family challenges. But Ahmadli-Shironova (2024), confirmed that support services are available, but most families argued or unaware of their existence. Their studies showed that there is a gap in the understanding of how interrelated multiple agencies, including healthcare workers, teachers, and families, are ineffective in implementing B sims resources (Ahmadli-Shironova, 2024). Furthermore, in the study by Losada-Puente, Baña and Asorey (2022), the authors explored the effects of diagnosis and intervention time Inhalation exposure delay. The study revealed gaps in the coordination of diagnostic and other related services, therapeutic sessions, and learning facilities that cause frustration to families leading to poor results(Losada-Puente, Baña and Asorey, 2022).

Implication for Future Research

Knowledge concerning the range of effects of early diagnosis and identification on the affective, economic, and interpersonal functioning of families, however, is far from perfect. Available studies tend to view children as the main dependents of the caregivers and therefore, there is little focus on how caregivers can manage caregiving roles and system complexity. Furthermore, new cases of people suffering from ASD are increasing and, at the same time, young children differ regarding the possibilities of receiving early diagnosis and attending proper interventions. Investigating these gender disparities is necessary to understand and design fairness to produce better policies on emergent health care and learning environments (Papadopoulos, 2021).

6.Methodology and Methods

This research uses an exploratory approach which involves primary research with a view of establishing the effect of early diagnosis of ASD on families. As for the general approach to data collection and analysis, both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods are included.

Primary and Secondary Research

Primary research may include questionnaire surveys and interviews conducted with the affected families while secondary involves searching through journals, government publications, and articles that already exist to help put the research into perspective (Prada-Ramallal et al., 2018).

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods

The use of quantitative research is done through closed-ended questions while open-ended questions are the common approach to gathering an emotional and social family’s experience through interviews or focus groups. These methods offer detailed description data into experiences and perceptions among individuals. On the other hand, quantitative research approaches, including surveys, rely on numbers to find out, for instance, how many families are affected by ASD, or what kind of problems parents and other caregivers encounter (Hsieh and Shannon, 2005).

Data Collection Tools

Self-administered questionnaires will be expertly administered to parents of children with ASD between ages 2 and 16. This approach guarantees flexibility, especially when delivering participants' responses to the objectives framed in the study.

Data Analysis with MS Excel

The data collected will be tabulated and analysed in Microsoft Excel. For quantitative data, the information will be analysed quantitatively, whereas the results from the qualitative data will be analysed thematically, with the findings presented in the form of charts or tables. This helps in making determinations when presenting findings to avoid a situation where the findings or recommendations given cannot be understood by the stakeholders.

This study, which uses quantitative methods and Excel for data analysis, aims to help identify the difficulties and benefits of early diagnosis of ASD and how it affects families.

7. Ethical Issues

8. Expected findings

It is postulated that the analysis of the available literature will show that early ASD identification has positive effects on child development and minimizes future difficulties. Conclusions will reveal families’ affective, financial, and social burdens and will stress the desocialization of families in the context of ASD and for low-income community members, lack of equal access to services, and low levels of awareness of ASD.

9. Temporal Plan

10. List of References

FND3003 - Early Diagnosis Of Autism And How It Impacts On Families Assignment Sample

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• Ahmadli-Shironova, L.P. (2024) ;Social Isolation and Relationship in the Family of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders,; International Journal of Research and Review, 11(8), pp. 97–104. https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20240811.
• Ault, S. et al. (2024) ;A secondary analysis examining the influence of emotional support on the mental health of caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder,; Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 75, pp. e142–e151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2024.01.005.
• Autism spectrum Disorder (no date). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd.
• Data and Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder (2024). https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/index.html.
• Gentles, S.J. et al. (2023) ;Trajectory research in children with an autism diagnosis: A scoping review,; Autism, 28(3), pp. 540–564. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231170280.
• Hodges, H., Fealko, C. and Soares, N. (2020) ;Autism spectrum disorder: definition, epidemiology, causes, and clinical evaluation,; Translational Pediatrics, 9(S1), pp. S55–S65. https://doi.org/10.21037/tp.2019.09.09.
• Hsieh, H.-F. and Shannon, S.E. (2005) ;Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis,; Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), pp. 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687.
• Losada-Puente, L., Baña, M. and Asorey, M.J.F. (2022) ;Family quality of life and autism spectrum disorder: Comparative diagnosis of needs and impact on family life,; Research in Developmental Disabilities, 124, p. 104211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104211.
• Papadopoulos, D. (2021) ;Mothers’ Experiences and Challenges Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Study,; Brain Sciences, 11(3), p. 309. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030309.
• Prada-Ramallal, G. et al. (2018) ;Primary versus secondary source of data in observational studies and heterogeneity in meta-analyses of drug effects: a survey of major medical journals,; BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0561-3.
• Rao, V.S. et al. (2024) ;Parent Mediated Interventions for Children with Autism across India: A Qualitative Study,; Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20(1), pp. 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/09731342241226505.
• Rizzo, A. et al. (2024) ;Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Guilt Sensitivity and Support,; Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(14), p. 4249. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13144249.
• Stenberg, N. et al. (2014) ;Identifying Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 18 Months in a General Population Sample,; Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 28(3), pp. 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppe.12114.
• Williams, R.T. (2024) ;The ethical implications of using generative chatbots in higher education,; Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1331607.
• Yesilkaya, M. and Magallón-Neri, E. (2024) ;Parental Stress Related to Caring for a Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Benefit of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Parental Stress: A Systematic Review,; SAGE Open, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241235033.
• Zorcec, T. and Pop-Jordanova, N. (2020) ;Main Needs and Challenges of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder,; PRILOZI, 41(2), pp. 81–88. https://doi.org/10.2478/prilozi-2020-0036.