Communication between parents of autistic children and health professionals: constraints and prospects for improvement

Autism Spectrum Disorders are a complex set of neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by a qualitative alteration in social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted, stereotyped behavior. To remedy this communication deficit, a partnership between parents of autistic children and healthcare professionals is essential for the successful medical and psychological care of these children. The expertise of parents would help to improve the identification of the child's difficulties and resources by the care team, with a view to listing elements that are unrecognizable and unobservable within the care structures. To develop a bibliographical review aimed at understanding the constraints to communication between parents of children with autism and healthcare professionals, while proposing prospects for improving this partnership. This is a bibliographical study carried out in two databases, PubMed and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria concerned articles in French and English published up to 2024 using the keywords “parents of autistic children”, “communication”, “barriers”, “constraints”, “health professionals”, “care”, “Prise en charge”. 20 articles were selected. The main constraints to communication between parents of children with autism and professionals in care facilities are related to health literacy about autism and the perception of each of the therapeutic partners in the care of children with autism. For healthcare staff, several studies report a lack of knowledge about autism, a lack of training and work overload. They also note a poor use of communication techniques, accentuated by cultural differences between parents and healthcare professionals, leading to a divergence in their perception of this disability. As for the parents, they report a high level of stress and a deterioration in their quality of life. This parental stress remains an experience influenced by parents' expectations and mistaken beliefs about the disorder. What's more, parents of children with autism, because of their need for social and emotional support and their difficulty in understanding information conveyed in technical language by healthcare professionals, experience a lack of trust in care providers. To improve communication between autism therapeutic partners, it is crucial to strengthen the training of healthcare professionals so that they are better equipped to interact with families, implement strategies to reduce parents' stress, and increase their level of health literacy. Communication between parents of children with autism and healthcare professionals is undeniably the cornerstone of the success of the child's therapeutic project. However, several constraints often hinder this essential communication. Strategies for improvement must be adopted in order to establish a constructive dialogue and foster an environment conducive to the development of the autistic child.