Affiliations: Department of Mental Health, King Khalid University
and King Fahd Medical City, Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Mohammed M.J. Alqahtani, Associate
Professor and Consultant of Clinical Psychology,
National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahd Medical City, PO Box
376624, Riyadh 11335, Kingdom of Saudi Al-Riyadh. Tel.: +966
558864000; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Healthcare providers mostly have formal understanding about causes
and treatments of autism. Parents of children with autism, on the other hand,
obtain contradictory information from multiple formal and informal sources. The
objective of the current study is to evaluate qualitatively the beliefs of
parents of children with autism in Saudi Arabia. A purposive sampling method
for recruiting typical sample was applied. Parents were selected from King
Fahad Medical City and a semi-structured interview format was used to interview
them. This study approached 85 Saudi parents of children with autism and 47 of
them were interviewed. Several causes of autism were reported. A vaccine was
the most causative sources reported. Some parents feel guilty that they caused
their children's autism. Others believed that nonmedical or cultural reasons
such as evil eye and black magic could cause autism. Few parents reported using
alternative medical intervention, such as diet program and hyperbaric oxygen
therapy to heal their children from autism. Cultural and informal interventions
dominated. It is recommended that professionals should be aware and sensitive
to these different beliefs and provide proper multidisciplinary interventions
including behavioral and educational interventions. The results of the current
study emphasise the needs to improve the teaching about autism among the
medical schools and for all pediatricians and health care professionals in
order to improve health care and quality of life in children with autism.
Keywords: Autism, beliefs, qualitative, culture, Saudi Arabia
