Table 1.

The characteristics of the participants.

Characteristics of Children with ASD		Number (%)
Gender	Male	334 (74.4%)
	Female	115 (25.6%)
Age	Less than 6 years	162 (40.1%)
	6 years and over	242 (59.9%)
School attended	Special School/Unit	47 (11.5%)
	Mainstream school	401 (88.5%)
Characteristics of Parent		Number (%)
Gender	Female	377 (92.6%)
	Male	30 (7.4%)
Age	Under 40 years	290 (71.4%)
	40 years and over	116 (28.6%)
Marital Status	Single/Divorced/Widowed	135 (33.2%)
	Married	272 (66.8%)
Wage earner in family	No	128 (31.5%)
	Yes	278 (68.5%)
Education	Left school 16	189 (46.6%)
	Further and Higher Education	217 (53.4%)
Level of deprivation	Most deprived areas	115 (26.8%)
	Less deprived areas	113 (26.3%)
	Least deprived areas	201 (46.9%)