Scoping Review: Autism Research in Baltic States—What Is Known and What Is Still To Be Studied

Abstract

We conducted a scoping review of the current knowledge about autism in Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The aim was to identify publications about autism and potential gaps of knowledge in this region. The search was conducted on March 31, 2016 using PubMed, PsycINFO and EMBASE databases. The search was updated on August 31, 2016; a total of 47 studies were analysed. Current research on autism in Baltic States is still in its beginning. Areas studied were education, medicine, parenting, autism in adulthood, treatments and epidemiology. Education sector is the most researched discipline about autism in Baltic countries especially addressing issue on schooling practices for autistic children. The prevalence of autism is unclear as only one outdated epidemiological study was found. Further epidemiological, clinical intervention research need to be conducted in this region.

Differences in Stress and Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Families With and Without Children With Developmental Disorders or Chronic Conditions

“…A situation of parents with children having developmental disorders or chronic conditions in Baltic States and specifically in Latvia is still under the influence of the late Soviet approach ( 27 ). Governments in these countries insufficiently recognize these problems as those need for specific attention, and do not provide additional help for families having children with developmental disorders or chronic conditions ( 28 ).…”

“…However, we considered it important to compare these two types of families in our Latvian sample. The reason for this decision was the insufficiency of studies making the accent on situation of families caring for such children in Baltic states and specifically in Latvia ( 27 ) and lack of appropriate recognition of problems of these families by countries' governments in previous years ( 28 ). For the Latvian part of the study, parents of children of any ages living in any area of Latvia that agreed to participate in the study were eligible for inclusion.…”

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“…Nors ASS turinčių vaikų skaičius Lietuvoje auga, tačiau Lietuvos švietimo sistemoje šiems vaikams skiriamas nepakankamas dėmesys (Diržytė, Mikulėnaitė ir Kalvaitis, 2016). Kaip rodo Lietuvos mokslininkų atlikti tyrimai (Ališauskas, Ališauskas, Ališauskienė, Gerulaitis, Kaffemanienė, Melienė, Miltenienė, 2011;Diržytė, Mikulėnaitė ir Kalvaitis;Buivydaitė, Newton, Prasauskienė, 2017) tik labai nedidelė pedagogų dalis yra pasirengusi ugdyti įvairaus amžiaus vaikus, turinčius ASS, moksliškai pagrįstų metodikų prieinamumas yra ribotas, stokojama tyrimų šioje srityje.…”

“…Be to, nurodoma, kad dauguma šių tyrimų buvo atlikti ugdant ASS turinčius vaikus (Petursdottir & Devine, 2017). R. Buivydaitė, Ch. R. Newton, A. Prasauskienė, (2017) trijose Baltijos šalyse atliktoje publikuotų mokslinių straipsnių meta-analizėje iki 2016 metų nurodo 47 straipsnius ASS tematika, tačiau nepavyko rasti nė vieno mokslinio straipsnio B. F. Skinerio verbalinio elgesio analizės srityje.…”

Development of the Signposting Questionnaire for Autism (SQ-A): measurement comparison with the 10-item Autism Spectrum Quotient-Child and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in the UK and Latvia

“…Our second goal focussed on a comparison of the questionnaire data collected in the UK with data collected in Latvia. Autism was not recognised in Latvia as a diagnosis until the early 1990s [28], and clinical diagnosis is still conducted by only a few centres with access to a limited number of diagnostic measures. In contrast, the DSM model of autism diagnosis has been established in the UK since its earliest conception in 1980 [29].…”