Influence of Home Environment on Participation in Home Activities of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, Jul 2014

Background: This study explored the key physical and social factors within the home environment that influence the participation of children with an ASD in home activities. Method: Step 1 used a correlational research design to identify relationships between the home environment and participation patterns of children with ASD. Twenty-two children, ages 3 to 6 years, with a diagnosis of ASD participated. Data were collected using the Preschool Activity Card Sort (PACS), Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (HOME), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and Hollingshead Four Factor Index of Social Status (ISS). In Step 2, an electronic survey gathered information from 20 occupational therapists, attempting to identify their perceptions related to factors within the home environment that influence the participation of children with ASD. Results: Significant correlations were found among parenting stress, the availability of learning materials, and parent responsiveness toward the child and the participation patterns of children in home activities. Themes relating to designated play areas for children at home, parents’ awareness of the needs of the child, and parents’ responsiveness toward their child emerged from the occupational therapists’ qualitative survey data. Conclusion: The results indicated that home environments do contribute to a child’s ability to participate in home activities.

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Influence of Home Environment on Participation in Home Activities of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

e Open Journal of Occupational Th Influence of Home Environment on Participation in Home Activities of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder Divya Sood 0 1 2 0 Governors State University 1 University of Colorado , USA 2 Cover Page Footnote Acknowledgments We would like to thank all of the parents and children who participated in this study and the occupational therapy practitioners who participated in the survey. We also thank Dr. Christine Berg, PhD, OTR/L, of the Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University , St. Louis, MO, for her valuable suggestions and time , USA Part of the Occupational Therapy Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation - Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ojot Copyright transfer agreements are not obtained by The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT). Reprint permission for this Applied Research should be obtained from the corresponding author(s). Click here to view our open access statement regarding user rights and distribution of this Applied Research. DOI: 10.15453/2168-6408.1082 This applied research is available in The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ojot/ vol2/iss3/2 Sood et al.: ASD and Participation within the home environment Participation in the everyday occupations of activity, and experiencing sensory issues. Family life is a vital part of human development and lived reasons, such as parents choosing not to participate experience. Through participation, children acquire in activities with the child or not assigning chores, skills and competencies, connect with others and were considered to be another factor associated with communities, and find purpose and meaning in life low participation among children with ASD. (Law, 2002) . Children diagnosed with an autism The results of the LaVesser and Berg (2011) spectrum disorder (ASD) experience limitations in study also noted that participation in self-care communication and social interactions, demonstrate activities was lower than for typically developing restricted and repetitive behaviors, and may children because children with ASD may demonstrate hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory experience sensory and motor issues that interfere stimuli or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the with such participation. Similarly, children with environment (American Psychiatric Association ASD participated in fewer sedentary leisure [APA], 2013) . This can influence their activities. Younger children with ASD may participation in daily activities. participate more in parent-child household activities Background (e.g., picking up toys, cleaning the room, having Recent evidence suggests that parents of adult-child playtimes) and community activities, children with ASD report lower participation in such as children’s festivals and community everyday life occupations among their children. For celebrations (Little, Sideris, Ausderau, & Baraneck, example, families of children with ASD ranging 2014) . from the ages of 6 to 17 years reported that their Rodger and Umaibalan (2011) have children were less involved in after-school or investigated the difference in routines and rituals weekend clubs or other organized events; they also between families of children with ASD and families were less involved in community activities when with typically developing children. In their study, compared to families of children with typically families of children with ASD established routines developing children (Lee, Harrington, Louie, & that were more child-oriented, geared toward Newschaffer, 2008) . Findings from another study meeting the demands of their child with ASD rather by LaVesser and Berg (2011) indicated that than the family as a whole. children from the ages of 3 to 6 years with ASD Factors Influencing Participation participated in fewer activities than typical children. According to the Person-EnvironmentThe most commonly cited reasons for low Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model participation among children with ASD were factors (Christiansen & Baum, 2005) , several factors can associated with behaviors, such as having tantrums, influence an individual’s participation in not following directions, showing no interest in an meaningful activities. Person-related factors, such The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, Vol. 2, Iss. 3 [2014], Art. 2 as sensory processing (Brown & Dunn, 2010) ; daily activities for infants was not related to the cognitive skills (Zingerevich & LaVesser, 2009) ; socioeconomic status of a family. Instead, it and social skills (Shattuck, Orsmond, Wagner, & depended on “parents creating situations that are Cooper, 2011), can influence the involvement of conducive to motor skill development, such as children with ASD in meaningful occupations spending time playing with the infants, promoting within an environment. Environmental factors, interaction with other infan (...truncated)


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Divya Sood, Patti LaVesser, Caren Schranz. Influence of Home Environment on Participation in Home Activities of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2014, Volume 2, Issue 3,