AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS: CHALLENGES IN CARE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Nowadays, the world faces a new and complex situation and it is difficult to comprehend and assimilate what is happening throughout this COVID-19 pandemic, and it becomes a challenge to persons with Autism Spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. This article describes the impact due to the pandemic on patients with ASD and their families. From the beginning, strategies to face it and minimize its negative effects were design. The demand of atention in psychiatry cabinets from persons with ASD resulted to be very low during the first three months (March – May, 2020), but from the third month (June – July, 2020) they started to be commonly evaluted with behavior disorder, irritability, self-injury, regressive comportment, increasing stereotyped movements and sleep disorder. Also, parents and specialists preoccupations about the diagnostic process and the specialized psychoeducational treatment increased. It is a challenge for professionals in the area to guarantee the process of diagnosis of ASD and specialized psychoeducational treatment in the context of Covid-19