1. Department of Psychology
How to Disclose? The Impact of Two Autism Disclosure Methods on Perceptions
Ratka Galijot, Jillian E. Austin, M.S., BCBA, & W. Hobart Davies, Ph.D
Department of Psychology
Wasn’t sure where the footnotes go for APA, so I put them in both places. They go at the end and without brackets (like you had at the beginning)
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2015). Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Retrieved from
2. Chambres, P., Auxiette, C., Vansingle, C., & Gil, S. (2008). Adult attitudes toward behaviors of a six-year-old boy with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(7), doi: / s
3. Daruwalla, P. & Darcy, S. (2005). Personal and societal attitudes to disability. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(3), doi: /j.annals
4. Harnum, M., Duffy, J., & Ferguson, D. A. (2007). Adults' versus children's perceptions of a child with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 37(7),
5. Ryan, S. (2008). “I used to worry about what other people thought but now I just think … well I don’t care”: Shifting accounts of learning difficulties in public places. Health & Place, 14(4), doi: /j.healthplace  
6. Ryan, S. (2010). ‘Meltdowns,’ surveillance, and managing emotions; going out with children with autism. Health & Place, 16,
7. Werner, S. (2015). Public stigma and the perception of rights: Differences between intellectual and physical disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 38(0), doi:
8. What’s the citation for your paper?
Austin, J. A., Zinke, V. L., & Davies, W. H. (submitted). Influencing Perceptions about Children with Autism and their Parents Using Disclosure Cards.
So we can make your graph bigger, let’s add the means to the graph. That is a different type of bar graph which includes the number right above it. Then you can get rid of mean and sd from the text all together.
BACKGROUND
1,2Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social interactions, communication, and behavior.[1][2]
1,2,3Individuals with autism appear physically
typical causing it to be an “invisible disability.”[1][2][3]
4Negative perceptions are formed about individuals with autism and their parents.[4]
5,6,7Parents report feeling judged and obligated to disclosure their child’s disability to reduce negative perceptions.[5][6][7]
2Diagnosis disclosure is one way to reduce negative perceptions.[2]
There are various ways to disclose an autism diagnosis that have become popular including:
1. Disclosure bracelet
2. Disclosure card
Previous research has shown that the disclosure card can be effective at reducing negative perceptions.
However, it is unclear if a disclosure bracelet is effective and if so, which disclosure method may be more effective at reducing negative perceptions.
To compare the relative effects of a disclosure bracelet, disclosure card, and a no disclosure condition on the perceptions of a mother-child dyad when the child is engaging in problem behavior.
METHODS
RESULTS
Critical of Mother/Child: Both disclosure groups were significantly less critical than the no disclosure condition. The disclosure card group was also significantly less critical than the disclosure bracelet condition.
Protect Own Child: Participants were significantly less likely to feel the need to protect their own child when reading the disclosure card or disclosure bracelet than the no disclosure condition.
Embarrassment for the Mother: Receiving the disclosure card or the disclosure bracelet resulted in participants feeling less embarrassed for the mother than the no disclosure condition.
Participants:
Community parents (383) with at least one child between 6 to 12 years old participated.
The majority of participants were mothers (70%), white (80%), married (71%), and college-educated (M=15.37).
Procedure:
On SurveyMonkey, participants completed a demographic survey and read a vignette.
The vignette read: Imagine you are at the park with your child and see a boy with his mother. The boy is yelling in a high-pitched voice, kicking and flailing on the ground, and sobbing. The mother is not engaging with the child.
Participants then either immediately completed a 14 question survey, or were first presented with the disclosure bracelet or card to assess perceptions.
Statistical Analysis:
A factor analysis was used to determine the items.
Two factors were found and a single item was used:
Critical of Mother/Child: α = .848
This mom needs to develop parenting skills
The mother should be doing more to manage this situation
The boy is showing significant behavior problems
This mother needs to learn new parenting skills
The boy is probably trying to get something from his mother
I would think negatively towards this mother
Protect Their Own Child: α = .817
I would want to keep my child from seeing this behavior
The mother should keep the boy out of the park if he is going to behave like this
I would try to keep my child from interacting with this boy in the future
I would think negatively towards this child
Embarrassment for the Mother:
This must be very embarrassing for the mother.
One-way ANOVA with Scheffe’s post-hoc tests was used to compare the differences between the factors.
Figure 1: Means of participant responses by treatment group (Disclosure Card, Disclosure Bracelet, and No Disclosure) on Perceptions (Critical of Mother/Child, Protect Own Child, and Embarrassment for Mother) *** = p<0.001
CONCLUSION
Consistent with previous research on disclosure, both card and bracelet disclosure conditions were more effective in reducing negative perceptions than the no disclosure condition.
The disclosure card was also more effective than the bracelet on one of the factors (Critical of Mother/Child), possibly due to the additional information on the disclosure card.
Disclosure appears to be an effective way to decrease negative perceptions of individuals with autism and their families.
Future research should explore the social validity of various disclosure methods.
AIMS