Filipino Child Autism Perception Questionnaire: Establishing a Reliable and Valid Measure

Introduction: The Philippines lacks culturally appropriate, validated tools to assess how Filipino parents perceive autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire on the perception of Filipino parents toward children with ASD. Methodology: A cross-sectional, sequential mixed-methods design was employed. Phase I consisted of semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs) followed by thematic analysis to identify questionnaire domains. Phase II involved questionnaire construction followed by pilot testing with 30 respondents recruited purposively from autism facilities in Sampaloc, Manila. Results: Caregivers attributed ASD to a heterogeneous mix of genetic, prenatal, environmental, behavioral and spiritual factors while navigating structural barriers including prolonged diagnostic waiting times and geographic concentration of qualified professionals. Thematic analysis identified five core domains: perceived causes of autism, sources of information, accessibility to services, attitudes and concepts toward autism, and impact on family and community. The questionnaire demonstrated strong content validity (Scale-level Content Validity Index/Average = 0.957) and acceptable overall internal consistency (α=0.805) with satisfactory reliability in the domains of Sources of Information (α=0.772), Accessibility to Services (α=0.810), and Attitudes and Concepts toward Autism (α=0.772). The domains of Perceived Causes of Autism (α=0.561) and Impact to Family and Community (α=0.354) exhibited lower internal consistency, reflecting the broad and multidimensional nature of those constructs. Conclusion: This study successfully developed a questionnaire with strong psychometric properties that captures the multidimensional nature of Filipino parental perceptions of ASD, while identifying financial inaccessibility, service scarcity, misinformation and stigma as dominant barriers to timely diagnosis and intervention.