Abstract:

Autism is a developmental disorder as a result of the interaction of many individual genes and is a characterized by the lack of social and communicative behavior, limitations in activities and interests. Based on the structure of the genetic basis of autism, it might be considered that families of the autistic individuals may differ from the normal population. In the general population, some milder autistic symptoms were seen at the parents of children with autism like; social and cognitive deficits, communication skills differences, repetitive behaviors, narrow interests, identity needs and tendency to focus on details. These milder behaviours are called Broad Autism Phenotype.Emotions is one of the area where the children with autism have problems. Alexithymic people is another group that are experiencing difficulty in recognizing and expressing their feelings. This study is aimed to determine the relationship between the Broad Autism Phenotype and Alexithymia properties of the parents of autistic individuals. The study is prepared in accordance with the model of relational research with 494 parents.In the study; Parental Information Form, in order to assess broader autism phenotype characteristics, Autism Spectrum Quotient and in order to assess the alexithymic properties, Toronto Alexithymia Scale were used. Finally, there is a significant relationship between Toronto Alexithymia Scale total test score and Autism Spectrum Quotient Social skills, Attention Switching, Communication, Imagination subscale scores of mothers of autistic individuals and Attention Switching, Communication, Imagination subscale scores and Autism Spectrum Quotient total score of fathers

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