“Level of participation of children with autism at home, school and community settings”

Abstract

Background: Participation is a very important element of everyday life. Children with autism needs proper guidance about their activity participation from their childhood period. In Bangladesh there have no related studies and resources available about participation in a Bangladeshi context at all. Objective: The study identified participation level of students with autism at home, school and community settings. Finding out the socio-demographic picture of students with autism. Methodology: The study was conducted through cross-sectional design in quantitative study among 110 children with autism who were selected from some selected area of Dhaka city. Participants were selected by using purposive sampling process. Result: Participation level in the home, school and community settings of children with autism were somewhat limited according to (CASP) questionnaire. According to CASP questionnaire, overall participation level is 74.25%, level of participation in home is 83.75%, level of participation in community 74.25%, level of participation in school is 69.50% and level of participation in home and community living activities 69.50%. That means school participation was better than home and community participation as family members were supportive to their child. Conclusion: The study explored the participation in home, school and community life of children with autism. The CASP scale is used to measure the participation level of children with autism at selected area of Dhaka district. OTs should encourage the children and parents about engage in the different life situation to enhance participation. Those findings provided useful information for clinicians to understand the participation that are faced by their client. It is possible to increase awareness of professionals and parents about the importance of the participation of children with autism that will helpful for therapist to plan, prioritize based on the greatest restriction and implementation strategies to enhance children‟s participation in the defined time period. Key words: Autism, Participation level in home, school and community.