Autism services in low-resource areas

Objectives: To explore access to intervention services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Jordan.

Methods: We used prospective cross sectional design and survey methodology to collect information from the parents of a convenient sample of children with ASD aged 2.5-17 years and who attended pediatric neurology clinics in 3 different university affiliated hospitals in 3 geographic areas in Jordan from February to December 2018.

Results: We interviewed parents of 274 children with ASD. One hundred ninety-six (71.5%) received rehabilitation services. The average age at first session was 3.9 years. The most common services received were behavioral therapy (182; 66.4%). The average weekly hours were highest for speech and behavioral therapy; 6.25 and 6.64 respectively. Private centers for developmental disabilities were the most commonly used followed by private centers for ASD. The most common barriers were costs (138; 58%) and transportation (88; 37.5%). Most parents (198; 72.3%) prefer to receive rehabilitation in a specialized center for autism, and most did not want to receive training to train their child themselves.

Conclusion: Most children with ASD in Jordan have limited access to recommended autism services. The development of future interventions must consider the needs of those living in limited resource regions.