A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia

Today, increasingly more people worldwide are aware about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, their actual knowledge about ASD is yet unknown. The lack of knowledge about ASD is especially apparent among the lay people in the community. In this study, the lay knowledge of ASD was investigat...

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Main Authors: Low, Hui Min, Lee, Lay Wah, Aznan Che Ahmad, Eni Eliza Ghazali, Tan, Phaik Kah, Lee, Ann Sien Sut
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/1/37859-147273-1-PB.pdf
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author Low, Hui Min
Lee, Lay Wah
Aznan Che Ahmad,
Eni Eliza Ghazali,
Tan, Phaik Kah
Lee, Ann Sien Sut
author_facet Low, Hui Min
Lee, Lay Wah
Aznan Che Ahmad,
Eni Eliza Ghazali,
Tan, Phaik Kah
Lee, Ann Sien Sut
author_sort Low, Hui Min
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Today, increasingly more people worldwide are aware about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, their actual knowledge about ASD is yet unknown. The lack of knowledge about ASD is especially apparent among the lay people in the community. In this study, the lay knowledge of ASD was investigated using a brief survey involving a community sample in Malaysia. The survey findings revealed that the vast majority of the respondents could relate to ASD as a type of learning disability. However, they were less familiar with the diagnostic features and remedial needs of ASD. They also reported limited knowledge about the social communication and language deficits of ASD. Another noteworthy finding was that the respondents reported different sources of obtaining ASD knowledge according to their demographic profiles (namely age, gender, education and occupation), which correspondingly led to variability in the type of knowledge they obtained. Together, the findings implied that content-specific ASD awareness programs through the right channels are warranted for optimizing efficacy in knowledge transfer and minimizing redundancy in existing ASD awareness campaigns. Increased lay knowledge on ASD will provide a public guardian ground for children with ASD to ensure that the challenges faced by them can be identified at an early age for optimizing the remedial outcomes.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:166302021-05-25T02:38:01Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/ A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia Low, Hui Min Lee, Lay Wah Aznan Che Ahmad, Eni Eliza Ghazali, Tan, Phaik Kah Lee, Ann Sien Sut Today, increasingly more people worldwide are aware about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, their actual knowledge about ASD is yet unknown. The lack of knowledge about ASD is especially apparent among the lay people in the community. In this study, the lay knowledge of ASD was investigated using a brief survey involving a community sample in Malaysia. The survey findings revealed that the vast majority of the respondents could relate to ASD as a type of learning disability. However, they were less familiar with the diagnostic features and remedial needs of ASD. They also reported limited knowledge about the social communication and language deficits of ASD. Another noteworthy finding was that the respondents reported different sources of obtaining ASD knowledge according to their demographic profiles (namely age, gender, education and occupation), which correspondingly led to variability in the type of knowledge they obtained. Together, the findings implied that content-specific ASD awareness programs through the right channels are warranted for optimizing efficacy in knowledge transfer and minimizing redundancy in existing ASD awareness campaigns. Increased lay knowledge on ASD will provide a public guardian ground for children with ASD to ensure that the challenges faced by them can be identified at an early age for optimizing the remedial outcomes. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/1/37859-147273-1-PB.pdf Low, Hui Min and Lee, Lay Wah and Aznan Che Ahmad, and Eni Eliza Ghazali, and Tan, Phaik Kah and Lee, Ann Sien Sut (2021) A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia. Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 19 (1). pp. 49-57. ISSN 1675-8161 https://ejournal.ukm.my/jskm/issue/view/1272
spellingShingle Low, Hui Min
Lee, Lay Wah
Aznan Che Ahmad,
Eni Eliza Ghazali,
Tan, Phaik Kah
Lee, Ann Sien Sut
A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia
title A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia
title_full A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia
title_fullStr A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia
title_short A survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia
title_sort survey of lay knowledge of autism spectrum disorder in malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16630/1/37859-147273-1-PB.pdf