Malaysian occupational therapists’ practices with children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Introduction

Occupational therapy is one of the health care professions that provides assessments and interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. However, to date, there is no information available regarding occupational therapy practices in Malaysia for this population. The purpose of this study is to describe the occupational therapy services for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in Malaysia, including the perceived training needs of practitioners.

Method

We surveyed the registered members of the Malaysian Occupational Therapy Association using a mailed questionnaire.

Results

A response rate of 15.5% was obtained. The majority of the responses were from those working in hospital settings who had less than 5 years’ experience working as occupational therapists with children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. The theories, assessments, interventions, and training that related to respondents’ practices mainly revolved around sensory-based approaches. Encouragingly, more than 70% of the respondents claimed that they performed assessments of daily living activities in their service. Client-centred practice was a further feature of occupational therapist respondents involved in this study.

Conclusion

Future study is needed, especially to engage more respondents and thereby produce more generalizable results and an in-depth exploration of the continuing education needs of occupational therapists in Malaysia.