title: Parents' detection of early signs in their children having an autistic spectrum disorder.
abstract: The study aimed to describe parents' views of their early perception and detection that something was wrong with their child and to give a comprehensive description of early signs to help primary health care nurses to focus on relevant symptoms. Participants were 66 parents from a total of 37 families, a population-based sample from a Swedish county. Interview data were analyzed by manifest content analysis. The results indicated a few critical periods: around the birth, early speech development, and school start. The diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders was delayed. The parents' reports were congruent with earlier observation studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Bengt.Sivberg@omv.lu.se
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sivberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009790:Occupations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden