Life Adaptation Program & Its Effect on Daily Living Skills of Autistic Children and Their Parents Stress

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of life adaptation program on daily living skills (DLS) of autistic children and their parent's stress. A quasi -experimental design was utilized in this study. A purposive sample of thirty autistic children and their parents were recruited from Autism Day Care Unit-Beit El-shams- Child Psychiatry Clinic in El-Abbassia Mental Health Hospital. Three tools were used to conduct the current study, sociodemographic and medical data sheet, autistic child skills scale, and parent's stress scale. The results showed that, more than eighty percent of the studied children had low level of daily living skills, and slightly more than half of the studied parents had moderate stress level. Findings revealed that there was a highly statistically significant difference between pre-post program regarding daily living skills & there was a highly statistically significant difference between parents stress pre and post program. In conclusion, early intervention play significant role in the development of DLS of all ages, yet further researches are needed for developing and maintenance of DLS of autistic children.

Keywords: autistic disorder, daily living skills, parents stress.