Poster #27 - Caregiver Experiences Of Feeding Infants With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Background & Significance:
Despite more than 3.5 million Americans living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there continues to be a delay in diagnosis in the United States (Autism Society of America, 2020). The average age of ASD diagnosis in the U.S. is 3 to 6 years old when most children with ASD can be reliably diagnosed around 2 years of age (CDC, 2022). The Autism Society of America (2022) emphasizes the association of early identification of ASD with tremendous functional progress and dramatically better outcomes for individuals with ASD, especially if intervention is initiated before the age of 3 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2021) recommends routine ASD screening at the 18 and 24 month well child exams. One major developmental milestone that is not addressed in routine infant developmental screening is feeding behaviors. Even though it is well known that older children with ASD are five times more likely to have feeding difficulties compared to their typically developing peers, few studies describe how children with ASD fed in infancy (Ashley et al., 2020). Determining infant feeding characteristics in individuals with ASD may serve as additional surveillance to decrease the average age of ASD diagnosis and begin developmental interventions earlier.
Purpose:
The purpose of this pilot study is to determine feeding characteristics of infants later diagnosed with ASD and to compare those feeding characteristics to their typically developing sibling(s).
Methods:
This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach to examine infant feeding difficulties in children later diagnosed with ASD. Semi-structured interviews, lasting 30-45 minutes, were conducted with caregivers who have a child with ASD ages 2-10 years of age with a history of feeding difficulty in infancy. The caregivers must also have initiated breastfeeding with their child with ASD and have a typically developing child to use for the comparison group.
Results:
Preliminary analysis of the 9 caregiver interviews revealed 3 major themes. There is the mother’s struggle and the need for support, which includes caregiver burden, pressures to feed the child, and dealing with unanticipated infant behaviors. The second theme is early feeding complications, which includes breastfeeding challenges, and the effect of breastfeeding difficulties on the baby’s growth. The third theme is feeding difficulties continuing, which includes challenges with the transition to solid food, and struggles with bottle and cup behaviors.
Conclusion:
We anticipate the results of this study will generate new knowledge regarding specific feeding characteristics that present commonly in infants with ASD but are not as common in typically developing infants. These interviews will also provide great detail on the presentation of the feeding characteristics that occur in this specific population. These results will help inform the development of a screening tool that will specifically identify characteristics of infant feeding that are indicative of ASD at 0-12 months of age as well as a breastfeeding support intervention for mothers whose infants have similar feeding challenges to promote longer duration of breastfeeding in this population.

Authors

• Amy Ann Campbell, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author

• Julie Barroso