In this blog post, I will be
reviewing an article by Fischbach et. al, “Is there concordance in attitudes and beliefs between parents and
scientists about autism spectrum disorder?” In this article, the author went over the fact
that there was never any investigation that had been reported involving the
attitudes and beliefs between parents and scientists about autism spectrum
disorder. To begin their research, they
did a survey involving 502 parents and 60 scientists.
As can be seen, 95% of scientists, and 55% of parents believe that the most likely cause of autism is genetics.
As stated by the
authors, “This empirical investigation is novel, as no comparable studies of
concordance between parents and scientists could be found” (Fischbach et al,
2016, p. 354). Most literature that has
been reviewed and consists of autism, tends to focus on things such as, “Vaccine-Related Beliefs and Practices of Parents of
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders” (Bazzano et al,
2012). Constructivist philosophical paradigms seemed to be used by the
authors. The article compares the
beliefs of the parents vs the scientists, and shows that many of the parents
construct their understanding and knowledge through their experience. Since the literature is less than a year old,
it is very current and quite significant in the topic area of autism. Inductive
research is done in this article rather than being of theoretical framework.
They attempted to create a theory of their own based upon the research being
collected.
The
type of study was exploratory and qualitative.
“Data
were collected, cleaned, and coded by CSR and entered into SPSS (SPSS
Statistics Grad Pack 22.0) for analysis. Differences between parents’ and
scientists’ responses were assessed via chi-square tests. The chi-square test
of independence was used as we had nominal level variables.” (Fischbach et al,
2016, p. 354).
Genetic testing was done and questions on stigma were
asked. Stigma was defined in this article as “when individuals are “made to
feel inferior, shamed, isolated, or their self-image is damaged”’ (Fischbach et
al, 2016, p. 357). Levels of which can
be seen in Table 3. The independent
variables in this article were simply the fact of whether or not the child has
autism, as it will affect the responses.
The dependent variables include the attitudes and beliefs of both
parents and scientists, as if studies done could show proof in changes, the
attitudes and beliefs could quickly change.
These variables are measured through surveys conducted and are valid and
reliable.
The authors covered the attitudes
and beliefs of both parents and scientists quite well. I feel that if the communication barriers
were to be knocked down, those attitudes and beliefs may possibly correspond a
lot more. The issues with this article
however are the facts that most of the 502 parents involved are “highly educated,
predominantly White, and their children with ASD had higher average intelligence
quotients (IQ) than the general population of children with ASD” (Fischbach et
al, 2016, p. 361). Therefore, I would
highly recommend that the author take that into consideration for future
studies. I believe that a higher level
of parents should be asked to participate, the races involved should be much
more spread out instead of mostly White, and more families with a child that
has ASD should be involved. As far as
scientists go, I believe that more doctors and healthcare providers should be
involved as well. One of the main issues
though, again, is communication. Just
like it is stated in the article, “Better cooperation and communication between
parents and scientists should improve practice,
mutual
understanding, and ultimately the health and well-being of children with ASD
and their families” (Fischbach et al, 2016, p. 361).
By: Whitney Skierski and Brittany Culley
REFERENCES:
Bazzano, A., Zeldin, A., Schuster, E., Barrett,
C., & Lehrer, D. (2012). Vaccine-related beliefs and practices of parents
of children with autism spectrum disorders. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 117(3),
233-242.
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.). Data and statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
Fischbach, R. L., Harris, M. J., Ballan, M. S.,
Fischbach, G. D., & Link, B. G. (2016). Is there concordance in attitudes
and beliefs between parents and scientists about autism spectrum disorder? Autism, 20(3), 353-363.
