ABSTRACT
Purpose
To assess the stress levels of parents of children with autism and to verify its association with the inability of verbal communication.
Methods
Participated in this study the parents of 175 children who were divided into three groups (parents of children with ASD without verbal communication, parents of children with ASD with verbal communication and parents with no complaints about their children development) and responded to the stress level questionnaire.
Results
Most parents from the three groups presented medium level of stress and that there was no significant difference between parents of children with autism with or without verbal communication. When parents of children with autism were compared with parents from the control group a significant difference was observed, with more parents of children with autism showing high levels of stress.
Conclusion
The stress level on parents of children with autism not influenced by their lack of verbal communication.
Autistic disorder; Parents; Language; Nonverbal communication; Stress, Psychological