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Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism
Published on: March 27, 2012
Health and Education Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and
Karen Pazol1, Lin H Tian1, Carolyn DiGuiseppi2
1National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare and education for children with disabilities. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experienced greater delays in specialty care and individualized education programs (IEPs) compared to other groups.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health Emergencies
- Disability Services
Background:
- Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with disabilities is crucial for future preparedness.
- This study examines service disruptions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), other developmental disabilities (DD), and the general population (POP).
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare missed/delayed appointments, access barriers, and remote learning experiences among children with ASD, DD, and POP during the pandemic.
- To identify specific challenges faced by children with ASD in accessing healthcare and educational support.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study recontacted caregivers of children (aged 3.4-7.5 years) enrolled in a previous study (2017-2020).
- Data collected in January-June 2021 focused on service access between March-December 2020.
- Children were categorized as ASD, DD, or POP.
Main Results:
- Over half of all children experienced missed or delayed regular health/dental appointments.
- Children with ASD had significantly higher rates of missed/delayed specialty services compared to DD and POP groups.
- Barriers included telehealth issues and mask-wearing difficulties; children with ASD also faced more disrupted individualized education programs (IEPs).
Conclusions:
- Ensuring continuity of care, especially specialty services for children with ASD, is vital during public health emergencies.
- Children with disabilities may require additional support to address pandemic-related service disruptions.
Objective:
Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic affected children with disabilities is essential for future public health emergencies. We compared children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with those with another developmental disability (DD) and from the general population (POP) regarding (1) missed or delayed appointments for regular health/dental services, immunizations, and specialty services; (2) reasons for difficulty accessing care; and (3) use of remote learning and school supports.
Method:
Caregivers of children previously enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development, a case-control study of children with ASD implemented during 2017 to 2020, were recontacted during January-June 2021 to learn about services during March-December 2020. Children were classified as ASD, DD, or POP during the initial study and were aged 3.4 to 7.5 years when their caregivers were recontacted during the pandemic.
Results:
Over half of all children missed or delayed regular health/dental appointments (58.4%-65.2%). More children in the ASD versus DD and POP groups missed or delayed specialty services (75.7%, 58.3%, and 22.8%, respectively) and reported difficulties obtaining care of any type because of issues using telehealth and difficulty wearing a mask. During school closures, a smaller proportion of children with ASD versus another DD were offered live online classes (84.3% vs 91.1%), while a larger proportion had disrupted individualized education programs (50.0% vs 36.2%).
Conclusion:
Minimizing service disruptions for all children and ensuring continuity of specialty care for children with ASD is essential for future public health emergencies. Children may need additional services to compensate for disruptions during the pandemic.
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