Exploration of parents perceptions on social skills displayed by children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

A common symptom noted amongst children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to social skills impairment. The level of impaired social skills exerted by children with ASD relies on the disorder severity. As such, this research looked into the parents’ perceptions towards social skills exerted by children with ASD. Hence, interview sessions with semi-structured layout were carried out with ten parent who had children diagnosed with ASD. All interview sessions were recorded, which were later transcribed and coded using Nvivo11. Next, the interview transcriptions were discussed with the parents for clarification and accuracy of details. The study outcomes revealed several common features related to ASD, which are lacking social initiation, limited eye contact, poor social communication, limited joint attention, dysregulated emotions, and poor response towards social cues. Conclusively, children diagnosed with ASD displayed discrepancies in social skills, particularly in communication, social motivation, social awareness, autism mannerism, and social cognition. Few interventions suggested by parents to enhance children’s social skills at home were discussed.