51.1 A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS: THE EXPERIENCE OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objectives: Families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face a unique set of challenges with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place practices These challenges are related to a diverse set of issues, including explaining COVID-19 and safety precautions in a comprehensible way, building structure in the home for e-learning to take place, and guiding children back into social situations and the community We sought to obtain direct feedback from parents to both develop an initial guide for families with ASD and to create awareness in the community about the challenges presented by COVID-19 and shelter-in-place practices Methods: Fifteen parents of children and adolescents from a nonpublic school or children with level-2 and -3 ASD participated in a semi-structured phone interview consisting of 18 to 24 questions (some were optional) regarding the following topic areas: general COVID-19 experiences and concerns, changes in the child’s mood and behavior, changes in parent mood and behavior, and coping/advice Parent quotes and descriptions were reviewed for common themes and then further categorized Results: The parent interviews lasted between 27 to 57 minutes and were conducted from May 4 to May 14 (7-8 weeks into shelter in place) The students of the parents who participated ranged in age from 11 to 21 years All parents included in the analysis had a child with ASD Parent stressors were categorized into the following categories: discussions surrounding COVID-19 and safety precautions, transitions into shelter in place, decrease in social skills, e-learning challenges, implementing structure, rigidity, and COVID-19–related stress Conclusions: COVID-19 uniquely affects families with children with ASD, and understanding those challenges will help make the transitions throughout shelter-in-place easier for the families and children ASD, PAT, SII