Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of children with autism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v12i3.40635

Keywords:

Child; Caregivers; Autistic disorder; COVID-19.

Abstract

The study aimed to verify which were the mental health impacts more affected to caregivers of children with autism and the difficulties for developing the necessary care. This is a descriptive exploratory research with a qualitative approach carried out from May to December 2021. The data collection occurred through the construction of an electronic questionnaire, being developed by the "snowball sampling" method, which allows the analysis of qualitative responses, therefore, after a previous contact with the group of participants was disclosed through emails and social networks (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram), in order to capture the largest number of caregivers of children with autism. We obtained the cooperation of 31 participants who were able to answer the questions. The results revealed that the vast majority of caregivers were female and that more than half of the children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder were male. It was evidenced that many of the caregivers had a stable fellowship, however, it was found that there were some difficulties in sharing obligations. It was verified that part of the research group had obstacles in providing qualified assistance and support for the children's needs, most of the time due to the absence or little support and also due to the socioeconomic issue. In this sense, it was noticed that there was a vast overload for the responsible caregivers as well as a compromising of their mental health.

References

Almeida, M. I., Molina, R. C. M., Vieira, T. M. M., Higarashi, I. H., & Marcon, S. S. (2006). O ser mãe de criança com doença crônica: realizando cuidados complexos. Escola Anna Nery, 10, 36-46.

Alnazly, E. K., & Abojedi, A. (2019). Psychological distress and perceived burden in caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 55(3), 501-508.

Alves, T., Farenzena, N., Silveira, A. A. D., & Pinto, J. M. D. R. (2020). Implicações da pandemia da COVID-19 para o financiamento da educação básica. Revista de Administração Pública, 54, 979-993.

APA-American Psychiatric Association. (2014). Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais, DSM-5. Artmed.

Baio, J., Wiggins, L., Christensen, DL, Maenner, MJ, Daniels, J., Warren, Z., ... & Dowling, NF (2018). Prevalência do transtorno do espectro do autismo entre crianças de 8 anos - rede de monitoramento de deficiências de desenvolvimento e autismo, 11 locais, Estados Unidos, 2014. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 67 (6), 1.

Barbosa, A. M., Figueiredo, A. V., Viegas, M. A. S., & Batista, R. L. N. F. F. (2020). Os impactos da pandemia COVID-19 na vida das pessoas com transtorno do espectro autista. Revista da Seção Judiciária do Rio de Janeiro, 24(48), 91-105.

Bento, T.S. et al. Desafios para inclusão da criança com deficiência na escola. Enferm Foco 2015 [cited 2019 9 fev]; 6 (1/4), 36-40.

Brito Rocha, A., Almeida Santoro, R., Crenzel, G., Alves Mendonça, A. S., Lima Cabral, R., & Abranches, C. (2020). Autism and the new challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rev Pediatr SOPERJ, 6.

Castro, C. F. D., Quintana, A. M., Olesiak, L. D. R., & München, M. A. B. (2020). Termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido na assistência à saúde. Revista Bioética, 28, 522-530.

Fernandes, A. D. S. A., Speranza, M., Mazak, M. S. R., Gasparini, D. A., & Cid, M. F. B. (2021). Desafios cotidianos e possibilidades de cuidado com crianças e adolescentes com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) frente à COVID-19. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 29.

Geier, D. A., King, P. G., Hooker, B. S., Dórea, J. G., Kern, J. K., Sykes, L. K., & Geier, M. R. (2015). Thimerosal: clinical, epidemiologic and biochemical studies. Clinica chimica acta, 444, 212-220.

Goldman, S. E., Burke, M. M., Casale, E. G., Frazier, M. A., & Hodapp, R. M. (2020). Families requesting advocates for children with disabilities: The who, what, when, where, why, and how of special education advocacy. Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 58(2), 158-169.

Kim, K., Kim, J., Voight, A., & Ji, M. (2018). Listening to the screaming whisper: a voice of mother caregivers of children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 13(1), 1479585.

Magalhães, T. F. A. (2020). A escolarização do estudante com deficiência em tempos de pandemia da Covid-19: tecendo algumas possibilidades. Revista Interinstitucional Artes de Educar, 6, 205-221.

Maia, F. A., Almeida, M. T. C., Oliveira, L. M. M. D., Oliveira, S. L. N., Saeger, V. S. D. A., Oliveira, V. S. D. D., & Silveira, M. F. (2016). Importância do acolhimento de pais que tiveram diagnóstico do transtorno do espectro do autismo de um filho. Cadernos Saúde Coletiva, 24, 228-234.

Marcondes, N. A. V., & Brisola, E. M. A. (2014). Análise por triangulação de métodos: um referencial para pesquisas qualitativas. Revista Univap, 20(35), 201-208.

Minayo, M. C. S, Deslandes, S. F., & Gomes, R. (2011). Pesquisa social: teoria, método e criatividade. Editora Vozes Limitada.

Pellicano, E., & Stears, M. (2020). The hidden inequalities of COVID-19. Autism, 24(6), 1309-1310.

Pitombeira, D. F., & Oliveira, L. C. D. (2020). Pobreza e desigualdades sociais: tensões entre direitos, austeridade e suas implicações na atenção primária. Ciência & saúde coletiva, 25, 1699-1708.

Rocha, C. C., Souza, S., Costa, A. F., & Portes, J. R. (2019). O perfil da população infantil com suspeita de diagnóstico de transtorno do espectro autista atendida por um Centro Especializado em Reabilitação de uma cidade do Sul do Brasil. Physis: Revista de Saúde Coletiva, 29.

Downloads

Published

08/03/2023

How to Cite

LIMA, A. K. de A. .; SILVA, K. V. L. G. da .; LIMA, V. M. de A.; LIMA, M. G. P. de .; ARAÚJO, A. H. .; TELES , M. B. L. .; BORGES, A. de S. .; LEONEL, A. C. G. .; LIMA, L. A. .; SIDRIM, A. C. . Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of children with autism. Research, Society and Development, [S. l.], v. 12, n. 3, p. e19612340635, 2023. DOI: 10.33448/rsd-v12i3.40635. Disponível em: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/40635. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3

Section

Health Sciences

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Ana Karoline de Almeida Lima; Kely Vanessa Leite Gomes da Silva; Victoria Maria de Almeida Lima; Maria Gisleide Penha de Lima; Alécia Hercídia Araújo; Mariana Bárbara Lira Teles ; Andreza de Santana Borges; Ana Camila Gonçalves Leonel; Lucas Alves Lima; Antonio Coelho Sidrim

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.