Parent-reported social-communication changes in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic has swept across the United Kingdom (UK). Given the ever-evolving situation, little is known about the repercussions of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therefore, this study explores the social-communicative impact of the first lockdown (March 2020 - July 2020) in the UK and the return to school period (September 2020 - October 2020), following prolonged disruption to routine, in children diagnosed with ASD. Methods : Parents of autistic children completed 2 separate online surveys following the first lockdown in the UK ( n  = 176) and also when children returned to school following the summer break ( n  = 54). Results : The results suggested that self-regulation skills ( p < .05) and co-operation skills ( p < .05) were most affected over the course of the lockdown. Children's physical activity levels were perceived to significantly increase during the return to school ( p < .0001), which was associated with better social-communication outcomes ( p < .05). Conclusion : Future work is needed to confirm and explore the findings. Such work could be implemented to protect and improve the social-communicative outcomes of autistic children.