Parental Perceptions: Effects of Home Acoustics on Children with Autism

Abstract

Background: As more children are being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there is a greater need for research surrounding how the built environment impacts those children. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze how parents of children with ASD perceive the effects of acoustics on their child. Parents of children with ASD completed a survey detailing their perceptions of their child’s behaviors to different acoustical aspects of the environment and the effectiveness of the current acoustical design of their home. Patients and Methods: The survey included Likert-scale questions, and quantitative measures. Results: Most parents indicated that they strongly agreed that their home is acoustically well-designed (69.5%) followed by agreed (13.4%), neither agreed nor disagreed (11.0%), strongly disagreed (3.7%), and disagreed (2.4%). Parents were also asked what environmental design features are used in the child’s home to help reduce noise levels. Parents reported using thick or sound-absorbing carpet (17.9%), thick walls (6.0%), wood chairs/desks (15.5%), and transitional spaces (11.0%). No parents reported using wood panels, sound proof material, or sound proof ceilings in the child’s home. Parents rated thick or sound proof walls (Mean = 4.17, Standard Division = 0.92) as being the most important elements of noise control in children’s environments. Results indicated a significant relationship between parental rating of noise control being an important issue and observing complaining in response to noise. Conclusion: The results indicated that there was an association between parents rating noise control as being important for their child and observing behaviors in their children in response to noise. There was no association between observed behaviors and parents rating environmental modifications as being important for noise control. Recommendations: Future research should seek to combine data from parents, teachers, and children with ASD. Further research could aid in the design and implementation of acoustic settings in the built environment that bring about positive behavior from children with ASDs.