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Awareness and Knowledge Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders Among University Students in Zambia

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Abstract

Experiences with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in sub-Saharan Africa are characterized with lots of uncertainty, including lack of awareness and knowledge. This study examined ASD awareness and knowledge among 488 University of Zambia undergraduate students using an autism awareness and knowledge survey. Study findings on awareness revealed a high proportion of students—seventy-nine percent (79%) had never heard of ASD before the survey. Significant variation in aspects of ASD knowledge was explained by gender, having children, internet use and school of study. Implications of low levels of ASD awareness and knowledge is a call to invest in ASD awareness campaigns through different platforms in order to promote ASD knowledge that translates into increased ASD understanding for better service provision in Zambia.

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Acknowledgment

We would like to thank all the participants for their willingness to volunteer and participate in the study. We are grateful because this is the head start for understanding ASD awareness and knowledge in Zambia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia

    Tamara Chansa-Kabali

  2. Department of Rehabilitation and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Capetown, Cape Town, South Africa

    Joachim Nyoni

  3. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

    Henry Mwanza

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  1. Tamara Chansa-Kabali
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  2. Joachim Nyoni
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  3. Henry Mwanza
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Contributions

Tamara Chansa-Kabali (TCK) conceived the study, participated in its design, coordination, data collection, statistical analyses and interpretation of the results and drafted the manuscript; Joachim Nyoni (JN) participated in the design, data collection and reviewed the manuscript; Henry Mwanza (HM) participated in the design, coordination, data collection and entry. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tamara Chansa-Kabali.

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Chansa-Kabali, T., Nyoni, J. & Mwanza, H. Awareness and Knowledge Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders Among University Students in Zambia. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 3571–3581 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04044-7

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