A proper psychosocial support helps any individual to express and meet the need for emotional, social and mental well-being. Providing such service to the children with autism and their family helps to elevate stress and enhance the coping skills to lead a normal life. A well-trained psychologist can guide the child and the family going through the process along with educating the caregiver to what to expect and how to promote the development of the child. This process also helps establish and improve relationship between the primary caregiver of the child and the provider establishing relationship-based practices.
Who are the Stakeholders in this process at Nepal?
- Child
- Primary Caregiver (this can be parent, siblings, family members, teachers)
- Provider (Psychologist/Physician/OT/ST)
What aspects does a psychologist focus in people with ASD (child)?
- Attention
- Executive functions (attention control, working memory, inhibition and problem solving)
- Academic functioning
- Memory
- Motor development
- Emotional processing
- Problems with sensory processing
How does a psychologist support child with ASD?
Psychologists are skilled in diagnostic practices and the assessment of cognitive and behavioral functions; however, they can also help in other various ways for the entire stakeholder involved in these processes which are described below:
- Proper screening and diagnosis using evidence-based test tools for the child (how we do that: Child interview, behavioral observation, test of cognitive and language abilities, medical tests to rule out other conditions, interview with primary caregiver who can answer questions about the child’s socio-emotional and behavioral development
- Referral to advanced treatment options
- Case management: Psychologists, working in partnership with physicians, speech/language therapists, and occupational therapists, can lead or contribute to multi-disciplinary diagnostic teams in clinical settings
- Setting up interventions in home and school
- Anticipatory guidance to the primary caregiver (this means to educating families about what to expect in their child’s development, how they can promote development, and the benefits of monitoring development)
- Psychosocial counseling to the caregivers, how to manage stress, where to find relevant information
- Recommending and implementing proper intervention strategies from early childhood and across the life span
What should we consider while preparing screening tool for ASD?
- What types of delay or conditions do we want to detect?
- Tools usually rely on two main sources of information—parents’/caregivers’ descriptions of their child’s development and a professional’s observation of the child’s behavior.
References
Kim, H.-S. (2016). Psychosocial Treatments for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Hanyang Medical Review , 27-37.
Prevention, C. f. (2022, Dec 6). National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved Dec 23, 2022, from Screening and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder for Healthcare Providers: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-screening.html#print
TRAJKOVSKI, V. (2020). Psychological aspects of autism spectrum disorder. Journal for ReAttach Therapy and Developmental Diversities , 14-23.
By: Chandni Tamrakar, MA Clinical Psychology