“An investigation into the behavioural differences children with autism display between the home and school environment: parents’ perspectives”

Children with autism can have difficulty demonstrating appropriate behaviour as a result of their diagnosis, causing frustration to both themselves and their care-givers. Despite growing knowledge of behavioural difficulties associated with autism, relatively little is understood about how these behaviours transfer across settings. This study aimed to investigate whether parents identified a difference in their children’s’ behaviour between the school and home setting, and to explore potential variables reported. A questionnaire was drawn up to address the purpose of this study and completed by parents of children with autism. Results found that the higher proportion of participants (52%) believed their child behaved better in the school environment, 44% suggested their child behaved the same in both these environments and only 4% indicated behaviour to be better in the home environment. Variables including; parents’ marital status, child’s age of diagnosis, type of school and use of visual schedules are all examined. This study further highlights the importance of examining the client’s context as part of the occupational therapy process and understanding the client in his/her multiple environments both when assessing and providing interventions. Further research should take a qualitative form to gain a more comprehensive insight into the behaviour of these children across settings.