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“Best Things”: Parents Describe Their Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Over Time

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Abstract

This study examined parental perceptions of the character traits of children with autism from early childhood to age 11. Parents (n = 153) provided descriptions of the “best things” about their children on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at ages 3–4, 7–8, and 10–11 years. Descriptions were coded using the framework of the Values in Action Classification of Strengths, with additional traits added as needed. Parent-endorsed traits included love, kindness, happiness, and humor in children across all ages and traits such as perseverance as children entered school. Higher CBCL scores were associated with a lower likelihood of endorsement for Humanity traits. Results are congruent with a contemporary neurodiversity perspective that emphasizes strengths and resilience.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada

    Katherine T. Cost & Wendy J. Ungar

  2. Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Anat Zaidman-Zait

  3. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Pat Mirenda & Connor Kerns

  4. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Eric Duku, Theresa Bennett & Stelios Georgiades

  5. University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

  6. Dalhousie University/IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Isabel M. Smith

  7. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Peter Szatmari

  8. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Charlotte Waddell

  9. McGill University/Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, PQ, Canada

    Mayada Elsabbagh

  10. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Tracy Vaillancourt

Authors
  1. Katherine T. Cost
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  2. Anat Zaidman-Zait
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  9. Theresa Bennett
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Contributions

KTC, AZ-Z, and PM conceived of the study and its design, coded all of the data, and participated in the design and interpretation of the data. KTC and AZ-Z performed the statistical analyses. PM drafted the manuscript and acted as corresponding author during the review process. PS coordinated the larger study from which the data were drawn. ED, LZ, IMS, WJU, CK, TB, PS, SG, CW, ME, and TV provided oversight for data collection, participated in interpretation of the data, and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Katherine T. Cost or Pat Mirenda.

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Cost, K.T., Zaidman-Zait, A., Mirenda, P. et al. “Best Things”: Parents Describe Their Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Over Time. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 4560–4574 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-04890-4

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