Needs of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum disorder

The current study aimed to identify the needs of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It also sought to detect differences in these needs based on some demographic variables (gender and educational qualification of the parents). The researchers applied the Training Needs Scale for Parents, developed by Al-Shakhs and Al-Sartawi (1998), on a sample of 226 individuals (108 fathers and 118 mothers).The results showed that the overall level of needs was high, as were the three dimensions: the knowledge dimension, the material support dimension, and the social support dimension. The dimensions were ranked according to their importance for the sample members as follows: in first place, the knowledge dimension was the most pressing for parents, followed by the material support dimension, and finally the social support dimension.The study also revealed differences in the level of needs of parents of autistic children based on the variable of educational qualification, in favor of an intermediate educational level or lower. However, the results did not find any differences in the needs among the study sample individuals according to the type of parent (father, mother).