Participation of Young Severely Disabled Children is Influenced by Their Intrinsic Impairments and Environment

Layperson Summary:

Children with autism cannot decide to get therapy for themselves. Instead, the family must make that decision.

This study was designed to see what factors lead families to sign their children up for therapy and what factors cause a family not to sign their child up for therapy. The authors found that social factors are just as important as medical factors when a family decides whether or not to get treatment for their child with autism. For example, if the family feels that there are others who support the child's therapy, then they are more likely to take the child to therapy. The study was done in the United Kingdom and may not apply to other parts of the world.

Scientific Abstract