These articles talk about the difficulties individuals with autism face when finding and using healthcare services. They mention barriers such as the high cost of these services, lack of experienced doctors in terms of autism training, and social stigma. They also mention challenges found in different life stages, including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. They recommend improving doctors’ knowledge of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions (ex. Understanding sensory needs in a medical environment, like lighting, sounds, etc.).
Article Summary:
By Natasha Malik-Soni, Andrew Shaker, Helen Luck, Anne E. Mullin, Ryan E. Wiley, M.E. Suzanne Lewis, Joaquin Fuentes, and Thomas W. Frazier
What is the authors’ objective?
The authors wanted to examine the barriers that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter.
What did they find?
They found that common barriers across all life stages included shortage of healthcare services, lack of physician knowledge, cost of services, family and individual knowledge, language, and stigma.
During childhood, common barriers included symptom severity, comorbid health conditions (medical conditions that are present at the same time), and different expressions of ASD symptoms.
Barriers during the transition to adulthood included social stigma, uncertainty of where to go for care, and lack of physician support during the transition to adult healthcare. Lastly, they found that common barriers during adulthood included mental health difficulties, physical health conditions, and lower satisfaction with patient-provider relationships.
What do they recommend?
The authors recommended that more resources/research should be dedicated to understanding the barriers individuals with ASD face across their lifespan. They highlighted underserved populations like rural inhabitants, people with lower socioeconomic statuses, minority groups, and adults as needing more attention. Additionally, in order to improve physician knowledge of ASD, they recommended the creation of programs on ASD in medical and healthcare education.
They also believed that genetic screening following ASD to identify autism through biomarkers should be promoted. Lastly, they advocated for the development of programs to increase public awareness of ASD to improve screening, diagnosis, and access.
Anything else?
The authors pointed out that our general understanding of barriers faced by people with ASD is still very limited, particularly beyond childhood and outside of higher resource countries.