A Study on Practitioner's Perceptions on Early Screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sunwoo, Hyun Jung; Noh, Dong Hyun; Kim, Kyung Mee; Kim, Joo Hyun; Yoo, Hee Jeong

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study is to investigate the professional knowledge and perceptions of the early screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in practitioners who have contact with patients with ASD.
METHODS
A survey was carried out among 674 practitioners in total, where practitioners are defined as those who work at primary medical centers, public institutions, educational institutions and treatment institutions. The survey was carried out both online and offline, and it mainly focused on 1) knowledge about ASD symptoms, 2) knowledge about the early screening of ASD, 3) measures taken after ASD detection, 4) thoughts on the development of early screening tools for ASD, and 5) the current status of ASD treatment. The data collected were analyzed through descriptive statistics, analysis of frequency and cross tabulation analysis using SPSS WIN 22.0.
RESULTS
The results of this study suggest that the practitioners were not aware of the exact symptoms of ASD and their professional knowledge and the environment for early screening were insufficient. Furthermore, very few and inappropriate measures were taken after the detection of ASD. In addition, there was a high demand for early ASD screening tools to be used on site and, regarding treatment, the significance of the implementation of evidence based treatments as well as the continuity of relevant research came to the fore.
CONCLUSION
It seems that there is a lack of knowledge and perception of the early screening of ASD and that education and training among practitioners is urgently required. This issue is discussed in more detail in the paper.