Autism Spectrum Disorder Categories and Social Responsiveness among Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder usually have problems with social responsiveness which in turns effects their social communication and results in confined repetitive pattern of behaviour and interests. However the existing literature is limited in demonstrating the importance of social responsiveness and its impact on gender and ASD categories. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of ASD categories on social responsiveness in adults with ASD and investigate social responsiveness among male and female adults with ASD. Methodology: The study utilized data from 60 adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with categories mainly, mild, moderate and high functioning. Adults of both genders (male and female) participated in this study with Social Responsiveness (SR) as a variable over 7 months from October 2021 to February 2022, using the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2 Adult Relative/Other online form). Results and Conclusion: One-way ANOVA test showed significant difference (p<0.001, df=2) between ASD categories. Tukey's Post Hoc Analysis revealed significant (p<0.001) difference between ASD categories from each other. Gender had no significant impact on ASD, and the severity of ASD varies between groups. Thus, this study fills a large knowledge gap on the influence of gender, categories and social responsiveness on adults with ASD.