Parents’ and teachers’ perspectives on autism and co-morbidity symptom severity of young children with ASD over one school year

Introduction

It is a well-accepted practice to include information from multiple sources for assessment of different medical and developmental disorders. Most studies in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared perceptions of parents and teachers of autism severity and comorbidities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety at only one point during the school year. Only a few studies examined longitudinal pattern of parent–teacher reports focusing only on perception of autism severity yielding conflicting results.

Materials and Methods

The study’s aims were to compare parents and teachers’ perception of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety symptoms severity of children with ASD, at start (T1) and end (T2) of the school year, to assess changes in their perception overtime and to examine correlations between their reports. The study included 73 participants, (M=61), aged 2:10-7:6 years (M =4:10, SD=1:0), who attended ASD special education classes. Parents and teachers completed measures of autism, ADHD and anxiety at T1 and T2.

Results

Teachers in comparison to parents, rated more severe social-communication impairments and inattention symptoms at T1, but not at T2. Significant improvement in teachers’ ratings of autism and inattention symptoms severity was documented at T2. In both time points, parents reported more severe anxiety symptoms. Significant correlations between parents and teachers’ reports were noted for autism severity at T1 and T2, but not for inattention and anxiety symptoms severity.

Conclusions

This study suggest that home and school environments differ. At the beginning of the school year, children were perceived by their teachers with more severe social communication deficits and inattention symptoms than parents reported.

The study emphasizes the contribution of parents and teachers’ perspectives for better collaboration between them and better understanding of children with ASD needs in different environments.