Canadian Social Science
Support Systems for Parents of People With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Relationship to Their Academic Qualifications
Abstract
This study aimed to assess the level of support systems available to parents of people with autism spectrum disorder and their relationship to academic qualifications. The participants were 120 parents from Amman, Jordan, distributed across three educational levels: high school or lower, bachelor’s degree, and postgraduate studies. A support systems scale for parents of people with autism spectrum disorder (SSSFPASD) was developed, and its validity and reliability were verified. To answer the study questions, the descriptive survey method was employed, and arithmetic means, standard deviations, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffé’s post-hoc test were used to analyze the data and obtain the results. The findings indicated that the availability, accessibility, and utilization of support systems were moderate, with institutional professional support being relatively higher than the other areas. The results also showed that people with higher educational qualifications were more aware of and better able to access and utilize support systems compared to those with a high school diploma or lower. The study recommends increasing awareness among people with lower educational levels about support systems, how to access them, and how to benefit from them, as well as enhancing community awareness and addressing the needs of parents of people with autism spectrum disorder.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13941
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