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Participation in everyday activities at home and in the community is essential for children’s development and well-being. Limited information exists about participation patterns of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examines these participation patterns in both the home and community, and the extent to which environmental factors and social communication abilities are associated with participation. Fifty-four parents of preschool-aged children with ASD completed the Participation and Environment Measure for Young Children and the Autism Classification System of Functioning: Social Communication. The children had a mean age of 48.9 (8.4) months. Patterns of participation were studied using descriptive statistics, radar graphs, and Spearman correlations. Children with ASD participated in a variety of activities at home and in the community, but showed a higher participation frequency at home. Parents identified different barriers (e.g., social demands) and supports (e.g., attitudes) in both settings. There was a moderate positive association between children’s social communication abilities and their levels of involvement during participation and the diversity of activities. This study highlights the importance of social communication abilities in the participation of preschool children with ASD, and the need to support parents while they work to improve their child’s participation, especially within their communities.

Background Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a high-prevalence neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communicational, social, and behavioral challenges. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of practices and products that fall outside the realm of conventional medicine practiced worldwide. Traditional CAM is a health practice that comes from a particular culture, such as the use of Zamzam water and black seeds in Saudi Arabia. CAM comprises widely utilized practices in Saudi Arabia for children of various ages and adults. In many cases, CAM is used to treat ASD. The aim of this study is to investigate the perspectives of adults in Saudi Arabia toward CAM for treating ASD. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing an online questionnaire to adults in different regions of Saudi Arabia. Results A total of 4,311 adults participated in this study; 66.8% were females and 33.2% were male. Half of the participants reported that they knew about ASD (54.7%). More than half of the participants indicated that CAM—including art therapy (69.0%), physical exercise (67.0%), and limiting the use of electronic (55.4%)—could help in ASD management. Around half of the respondents indicated a belief that traditional treatment cannot help in treating ASD (53.9%). Only 20.0% of the respondents thought that ASD could be entirely treated using CAM therapies. The most common source of knowledge about CAM was social media and the internet (58.6%). Conclusions The majority of participants in this study did not believe that ASD could be treated entirely using CAM. In addition, fewer than half of the participants believed that CAM therapies could improve different aspects of ASD, such as behavioral issues. The study highlighted the need for awareness among residents of Saudi Arabia regarding specific treatments for ASD.

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