The McMaster Autism Research Team (MacART) is pleased to announce the release of results from the 2023 Pandemic Canadian Autism Needs Assessment. We were proud to partner with Autism Speaks Canada and Autism Alliance of Canada to develop, implement, and analyze the Pandemic Canadian Autism Needs Assessment – a survey where respondents shared their experiences to help understand the evolving impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Autistic people and the services and supports they access.
Purpose of the survey
- To describe the evolving impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic adults, caregivers (parents) and their autistic children of any age, living in Canada.
- To assess the evolving experiences of autistic adults and of caregivers of autistic children in Canada regarding autism-related supports and services in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To inform community organizations and policy makers of current needs reported by the autism community across Canada.
Results
The respondents to the survey included 448 autistic adults and 1,082 caregivers of one or more autistic children of any age (196 of these identified as both an autistic adult and a caregiver). Caregivers reported on 975 autistic children currently under their care. About one quarter of autistic children reported on were adult aged (23% were 18+ years).
The key results of the survey were:
- Changes in access to services and supports were generally accompanied by changes to health. Importantly, worse access meant worsened health.
- Remote delivery of many health professional services was more acceptable for meeting autistic adult and caregiver needs, but less acceptable for meeting autistic children’s needs.
- Caregivers felt certain or somewhat certain that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed overall child development for two thirds of the children they reported on.
- Autistic caregivers were likely to have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic differently than non-autistic caregivers, in several different ways.
Who was conducting this survey?
The survey and survey report were developed in partnership with autistic people, caregivers, Autism Speaks Canada, Autism Alliance of Canada, and McMaster Autism Research Team, with financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada. We are grateful to our collaborators, Fédération Québécoise de l’autisme, Autism Yukon, and Pacific Family Autism Network for their help on this project.
Thank you to the autism community for participating in the survey. Feel free to share the results on social media, email communications, and websites.
