{"id":121483,"date":"2021-01-11T15:33:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T14:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=121483"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:19","slug":"corona-science-we-can-help-make-it-easier-for-children-with-autism-and-their-parents-to-get-through-these-tough-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/01\/11\/corona-science-we-can-help-make-it-easier-for-children-with-autism-and-their-parents-to-get-through-these-tough-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Corona science: We can help make it easier for children with autism and their parents to get through these tough times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The coronavirus measures have had a huge impact on people\u2019s mental and physical health. All manner of new rules have virtually turned our lives upside down. According to assistant professor in Clinical Psychology Linda Dekker, the effect on people with autism can be much greater than it is on others.<\/p>\n

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It is for this reason that she has teamed up with colleagues Ruth Van der Hallen, Susan van Rijen and Femke Truijens to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their parents. \u201cWe want to find out whether they are experiencing more or fewer difficulties, whether they are suffering more or less from depression or anxiety, and whether their autism symptoms been exacerbated or alleviated. We also want to check how they are experiencing the changes and whether they are confident that everything will turn out alright again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dekker herself is a psychologist and researcher whose focus is on autism and sexuality. For this research, which is funded by ZonMw, she and her colleagues from the EUR are collaborating with three mental healthcare institutions in Rotterdam that provide specialist care to children, young people and families affected by ASD. Dekker goes on to explain that the heterogeneity of ASD means each of these children and their parents have different experiences. \u201cPeople with ASD, who have a strong need for routines, will have difficulty breaking them. Others whose problems are mainly connected with social interaction might actually feel a little better now because there is less pressure on them to meet people or shake their hand. Conversely, there are ASD patients who have a strong need for social interaction, and this is now becoming increasingly difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deviating from the norm<\/h2>

According to Dekker, the reason the corona measures can be particularly challenging for people with ASD is that their introduction is based on what is appropriate for most people. \u201cIt seems the further you \u2018deviate from the norm\u2019, the less you fit in at times like these. Nevertheless, we can take account of people with ASD and their families perfectly well, providing we know how to go about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is also what prompted her to conduct this research. \u201cI think we can help make it easier for children with ASD and their parents to get through these tough times. We know that people with ASD are also more vulnerable to long-term consequences. If things aren\u2019t going very well, they will continue along a similar vein for a longer period of time. We need to respond accordingly and take on board lessons for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

These lessons are vital because there has never been any research into the effects of such fundamental events on the lives of families affected by ASD, not even during the SARS epidemic, for instance. According to Dekker, the results of this research may be able to help improve the situation of this target group at a range of levels during lockdowns or, for example, during a move, divorce or bereavement. The results will also improve knowledge among clinicians and the government so that these children and their families can be helped more effectively and promptly.<\/p>\n

32 weeks pregnant<\/h2>

Leaving lockdown to one side, this is also an extraordinary time for Dekker on a personal level. At the time of being interviewed for this article, she is 32 weeks pregnant and shortly due to go on maternity leave. \u201cGetting a subsidy of this kind is complex, and then you have to consider that for a one-year project, you are going to be out of the running for four months. But apart from that, it\u2019s not really an issue. For example, in Zoom meetings you can\u2019t see that I\u2019m pregnant at all, so a lot of colleagues don\u2019t even know it yet! I find the hardest part is that being pregnant means I get tired faster, and I could use the energy at the moment because my two-year-old daughter is with me at home due to lockdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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