Raising a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder: 'If this were a partner relationship, I would have quit ages ago'.

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the experiences of parents having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and what kind of support parents would like to receive in primary care.

Methods: Interviews were held with 29 main caregivers, in combination with a standardized questionnaire on quality of life.

Results: Virtually all parents experienced tremendous shortcomings as a caregiver of their affected child and therefore felt guilty both towards their child with ASD and towards their other children.

Detecting autism spectrum disorders in the general practitioner's practice.

It takes considerable time before Autism Spectrum Disorders are diagnosed. Validated diagnostic instruments are available, but not applicable to primary healthcare. By means of a case-control study we investigated whether there were differences in presented complaints and referral patterns between children with ASD (n = 49) and a control group of children without ASD (n = 81).