Community Perspectives on the Appropriateness and Importance of Support Goals for Young Autistic Children

There is little research regarding autistic adult, parent and professional perspectives on support goals for young autistic children. A total of 87 autistic adults, 159 parents of autistic children, and 80 clinical professionals living in New Zealand and Australia completed a survey about the appropriateness and importance of common support goals for young autistic children. Goals related to the adult supporting the child, the reduction and replacement of harmful behaviours, and improving child quality of life were the highest priority across participant groups, while goals related to child autism characteristics, play and academic skills were the lowest priority. Compared to parents and/or professionals, autistic adults gave lower priority ratings for play skills, autism characteristics and participation goals and were more likely to rate these goal domains as inappropriate. More research is needed to understand the underlying reasons for these similarities and differences.