Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with ASD and Their Caregivers: A Perspective from the SPARK Cohort

The SPARK Consortium

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04816-6

Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with ASD and Their Caregivers: A Perspective from the SPARK Cohort

The SPARK Consortium

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

63 Scopus citations

Abstract

The impact of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in the United States is unprecedented, with unknown implications for the autism community. We surveyed 3502 parents/caregivers of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in Simons Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) and found that most individuals with ASD experienced significant, ongoing disruptions to therapies. While some services were adapted to telehealth format, most participants were not receiving such services at follow-up, and those who were reported minimal benefit. Children under age five had the most severely disrupted services and lowest reported benefit of telehealth adaptation. Caregivers also reported worsening ASD symptoms and moderate family distress. Strategies to support the ASD community should be immediately developed and implemented.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	3766-3773
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of autism and developmental disorders
Volume	51
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04816-6
State	Published - Oct 2021

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder
COVID-19
Services
Stress
Telehealth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology

Access to Document

10.1007/s10803-020-04816-6

Cite this

@article{ae47eefeceeb4856993748ab6076ab23,

title = "Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with ASD and Their Caregivers: A Perspective from the SPARK Cohort",

abstract = "The impact of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in the United States is unprecedented, with unknown implications for the autism community. We surveyed 3502 parents/caregivers of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in Simons Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) and found that most individuals with ASD experienced significant, ongoing disruptions to therapies. While some services were adapted to telehealth format, most participants were not receiving such services at follow-up, and those who were reported minimal benefit. Children under age five had the most severely disrupted services and lowest reported benefit of telehealth adaptation. Caregivers also reported worsening ASD symptoms and moderate family distress. Strategies to support the ASD community should be immediately developed and implemented.",

keywords = "Autism spectrum disorder, COVID-19, Services, Stress, Telehealth",

author = "{The SPARK Consortium} and White, {L. Casey} and Law, {J. Kiely} and Daniels, {Amy M.} and Jaimie Toroney and Brianna Vernoia and Sabrina Xiao and Pamela Feliciano and Chung, {Wendy K.} and Leonard Abbeduto and Gabriella Aberbach and Shelley Aberle and John Acampado and Andy Ace and Kaitlyn Ahlers and Charles Albright and Michael Alessandri and Nicolas Alvarez and David Amaral and Alpha Amatya and Alicia Andrus and Claudine Anglo and Rob Annett and Eduardo Arzate and Irina Astrovskaya and Kelli Baalman and Melissa Baer and Gabriele Baraghoshi and Nicole Bardett and Sarah Barnes and Asif Bashar and Heidi Bates and Katie Beard and Juana Becerra and Malia Beckwith and Landon Beeson and Josh Beeson and Brandi Bell and Monica Belli and Dawn Bentley and Natalie Berger and Anna Berman and Raphael Bernier and Elizabeth Berry-Kravis and Mary Berwanger and Shelby Birdwell and Elizabeth Blank and Stephanie Booker and Aniela Bordofsky and Eric Fombonne and Brian O{\textquoteright}Roak",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",

year = "2021",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1007/s10803-020-04816-6",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "51",

pages = "3766--3773",

journal = "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders",

issn = "0162-3257",

publisher = "Springer New York",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brief Report

T2 - Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with ASD and Their Caregivers: A Perspective from the SPARK Cohort

AU - The SPARK Consortium

AU - White, L. Casey

AU - Law, J. Kiely

AU - Daniels, Amy M.

AU - Toroney, Jaimie

AU - Vernoia, Brianna

AU - Xiao, Sabrina

AU - Feliciano, Pamela

AU - Chung, Wendy K.

AU - Abbeduto, Leonard

AU - Aberbach, Gabriella

AU - Aberle, Shelley

AU - Acampado, John

AU - Ace, Andy

AU - Ahlers, Kaitlyn

AU - Albright, Charles

AU - Alessandri, Michael

AU - Alvarez, Nicolas

AU - Amaral, David

AU - Amatya, Alpha

AU - Andrus, Alicia

AU - Anglo, Claudine

AU - Annett, Rob

AU - Arzate, Eduardo

AU - Astrovskaya, Irina

AU - Baalman, Kelli

AU - Baer, Melissa

AU - Baraghoshi, Gabriele

AU - Bardett, Nicole

AU - Barnes, Sarah

AU - Bashar, Asif

AU - Bates, Heidi

AU - Beard, Katie

AU - Becerra, Juana

AU - Beckwith, Malia

AU - Beeson, Landon

AU - Beeson, Josh

AU - Bell, Brandi

AU - Belli, Monica

AU - Bentley, Dawn

AU - Berger, Natalie

AU - Berman, Anna

AU - Bernier, Raphael

AU - Berry-Kravis, Elizabeth

AU - Berwanger, Mary

AU - Birdwell, Shelby

AU - Blank, Elizabeth

AU - Booker, Stephanie

AU - Bordofsky, Aniela

AU - Fombonne, Eric

AU - O’Roak, Brian

PY - 2021/10

Y1 - 2021/10

N2 - The impact of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in the United States is unprecedented, with unknown implications for the autism community. We surveyed 3502 parents/caregivers of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in Simons Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) and found that most individuals with ASD experienced significant, ongoing disruptions to therapies. While some services were adapted to telehealth format, most participants were not receiving such services at follow-up, and those who were reported minimal benefit. Children under age five had the most severely disrupted services and lowest reported benefit of telehealth adaptation. Caregivers also reported worsening ASD symptoms and moderate family distress. Strategies to support the ASD community should be immediately developed and implemented.

AB - The impact of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in the United States is unprecedented, with unknown implications for the autism community. We surveyed 3502 parents/caregivers of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in Simons Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) and found that most individuals with ASD experienced significant, ongoing disruptions to therapies. While some services were adapted to telehealth format, most participants were not receiving such services at follow-up, and those who were reported minimal benefit. Children under age five had the most severely disrupted services and lowest reported benefit of telehealth adaptation. Caregivers also reported worsening ASD symptoms and moderate family distress. Strategies to support the ASD community should be immediately developed and implemented.

KW - Autism spectrum disorder

KW - COVID-19

KW - Services

KW - Stress

KW - Telehealth

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098538801&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85098538801&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10803-020-04816-6

DO - 10.1007/s10803-020-04816-6

M3 - Article

C2 - 33387233

AN - SCOPUS:85098538801

SN - 0162-3257

VL - 51

SP - 3766

EP - 3773

JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

IS - 10

ER -

Brief Report: Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with ASD and Their Caregivers: A Perspective from the SPARK Cohort

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this