Volume 28, Issue 147, May 2024

Awareness and attitude of female preschool teachers towards autism in Medina

Khalid Mohammed Ghalilah¹, Shahad Mohammed Hassan Jorob², Dana Yousef Mansour Alahmadi^2♦, Umme Habiba Usman Ahmed Baqrain³, Haneen Mohammed Saad Alharbi⁴, Leena Anas Ahmed Alkolaibi⁴, Joud Saleh Hamdan Alahmadi⁴

¹Infection Control Consultant Physician, King Saalman Medical City, Madinah, Saudi Arabia
²General Practitioner, College of Medicine, Alrayan Colleges, Madinah, Saudi Arabia
³General Practitioner, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan
⁴Medical Student, College of Medicine, Alrayan Colleges, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding Author
General Practitioner, College of Medicine, Alrayan Colleges, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a clinical condition that is characterized by a complex manner of development, some difficulties degree in social communication, lack of interest, and the presence of behavior abnormalities. Objective: This study aimed to measure autism awareness in preschool teachers from September 2023 to October 2023. Methods: A crosssectional descriptive study was conducted on preschool teachers in the kindergartens in the Medina region to measure the awareness of autism in preschool teachers from September 2023 to October 2023. Results: The total number of participants in our search was 303 preschool teachers. Age group 41 – 50 years old was the most prevalent age group, with 127 participants (41.9 %). The percentage of teachers who Contact Students with Autism was 48.2 %. Statistical analysis showed no significant association between the level of awareness and factors such as age group (p = 0.222), living place (p = 0.815), or position (p = 0.387). These findings suggest that these factors did have a significant role in influencing participants' level of awareness, as p-values were greater than 0.05. Conclusion: Participants had good knowledge regarding detecting ASD. However, there is no significant difference in the level of awareness concerning the attendance of the classes, but no value regarding age, gender, years of teaching experience, and contact with students with autism.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Awareness, Attitudes, Knowledge, Preschool teachers

Medical Science, 2024, 28, e46ms3345

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v28i147.e46ms3345

Published: 25 May 2024