By Michelle Kerr |

 

 

Greetings

I am currently a graduate student at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno CA. I am looking for message boards or other venues to post my request for survey completion to. I have been on several autism parent sites; however I would like to get responses from the general population as well. If you have any ideas, or can assist me in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. Included is a short description of my study.

Thank you: Michelle Kerr

mbp@fpu.edu

 

 

INTRODUCTION
Although some studies have been done to investigate the possible relationship between obstetric complications and autistic disorder, questions concerning long-term epidural use during labor have not been explored. 
Further investigation is warranted.

 

METHOD

Data will be collected on individuals using a survey designed by the researcher. There will be a number (n=?) of responses by parents with children that have previously been diagnosed with autism (AU) and children who do not have a diagnosis of autism (CO) who will serve as the control group. The survey will be posted to a web site http://www.autismresearchsurvey.com with a hyperlink to the survey, which will redirect individuals to http://www.surveymonkey.com, whereby they may elect to complete the survey. The data will then be downloaded via a secure web site and compiled using the statistical software SPSS. A survey was created using Survey-Monkey.com.The survey includes several questions concerning the birth-experience and has a separate section for each birth. My primary goal was to glean information concerning autism and complications during the birth process, however I wanted to include other items that could be used in future studies as well, consequently I included several questions concerning the labor and delivery process as well as questions concerning special education and possible diagnosis other than autism.