Article: Early Intervention in Autism Disorder: Concerns and Support of Portuguese Mothers. In Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2017, 52(3).
I don't currently have any Portuguese clients, but I'm always interested to see evidence of my theory that ASD has this enormous leveling force on our lives. By this I mean that regardless who we are or where we are from, ASD has a very similar, massive impact on all of our lives. This study confirms my bias.
This has been brought up in another post, but it is worth mentioning that this study found, "inadequacy of support provided by the primary health care system...especially at the initial stage and the diagnostic process. (p240)" Since early intervention has such a huge, positive impact on the ASD population, getting kids identified as early and quickly as possible should be a priority. It seems as if early identification is as big a priority in Portugal as it is here in the US.
It should be noted that the health system is not the only system pre-school aged children with ASD and their families are involved in. Actual pre-schools, religious groups, and neighborhood and family groups represent other common systems pre-school aged children with ASD are involved in. Perhaps more focus can be placed on educating these other systems to identify children who might be at risk for an ASD diagnosis.