Parents’ Responses to Their Children ASD Diagnosis
As there are no specific guidelines for parenting, nothing can prepare a parent to receive a first medical diagnosis of their child’s autism. . The burden that parents experience when receiving the diagnosis depends on the following: level of severity; level of the child’s dependency and intensity of needed care; the support that is available to the parents from their close environment; the parents negative views on caring for a child with ASD; negative view on the diagnostic process; levels of passive avoidant coping strategies (Stuart, & McGrew, 2008).
Parents who seek for a medical diagnosis that will explain the child’s developmental condition are pro-actively looking for a remedy
Having a child given a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a very stressful event for parents. It is imperative to understand that there is much that can be done for both parent and the child. From the current literature we know that parents of children diagnosed with autism worry about many things like lifetime dependency to family dissonance. We know that these parents are distressed and angry, the parents of children with more unusual behaviors feel a lot more stressed than the parents of children with fewer unusual behaviors. However, having a strategy to approach it correctly and to get the best possible help for your child is probably the most important step, one can take to relieve stress and to aid the child’s development.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. For grown-ups, an autism diagnosis may get alleviation terms of a clarification for their long lasting battles, for parents, the principal months in the wake of discovering that their youngster has a formative issue can be enthusiastic, confounding and testing. A kid 's autism diagnosis influences each individual from the family in various ways. Guardians/parental figures should now put their essential concentrate on helping their kid with ASD, which may put weight on their marriage, other
This hardships and struggles were focused on their child’s tantrums that are present in the condition ASD and how they cope up with it. Participants also described having to make lifestyle transitions in their life. One lifestyle transitions affected their careers for them to focus more in taking care of their child. Family activities and relationships with their non-affected children was also affected being involved in a child with autism. It was shown in the study how autism spectrum disorder give an impact in the primary caregivers’ life and his/her family. The findings suggest that professionals need to engage more with families when conveying a diagnosis of autism, particularly with families that is financially unstable. Thus, the findings suggest that there is a need to inform the future families who may experience the involved responsibilities of having an autistic child.This study gave several recommendations to three particular subjects the Families /Primary Caregivers, Government and the Community. All these subjects are selected for the enlightenment of this topic which is autism spectrum disorder(ASD). The findings from this study therefore provide hope and encouragement for parents of children with autism in particular, but also for parents raising children with intellectual disabilities
Every single day is a struggle for an autistic child and his or her family. Autism affects all aspects of a child’s life from their ability to show affection to their family to being able to do simple tasks such as communicating and thinking in ways that we take for granted. Autism is defined as a developmental disability in which children experience abnormalities in social functioning, language, often act in puzzling ways, and usually appears before the age of three (Mash &Wolfe, 2010). Although the exact causes of autism are unknown there does seem to be a strong genetic component. Having a child or family member with autism is a constant battle of emotion and frustration. Everyone wants to help the people they love when they have
A parent knows their child, that being said over the past two weeks I noticed my 20 month child has become very agitated, displays no eye contact with neither his father nor I any longer. We have noticed a major change in his behavior, sleeping habits and a lost in language skills. The changes in our son have sparked our full attention and concern. As parents, our sole responsibility is our son and his upbringing.
After knowing of the diagnosis parents go through a process of denial and uncertainty that leads to high level of distress after knowing of the diagnosis .These feelings increments as they realized how limited is their knowledge of their child’s condition. Among the issues that parents encounter is understanding the disorder, with so much information at hand is difficult to choose which information is reliable. Lack of access to appropriate information, both early on and as the child ages, is a significant barrier to adjustment for families with a child with ASD (Mitchell & Sloper,2002; Russa, Matthews, & Owen-DeSchryver, 2014; Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, & Soodak, 2006). Reaching out for professional assistance allows for them to get access
According to American Psychological Association (2000), Autism is the most severe disability through human development, and its symptoms usually occur within the first three years after birth. Studies indicate that over the years, people in many countries around the world started to learn the critical importance of Autism, especially those from low- and middle-income countries (Malcolm-Smith, Hoogenhout, Ing, Thomas, & de Vries, 2013). Compared to the widespread of Autism awareness, early detection and intervention in low- and middle-income countries did not receive sufficient professional support (Gary & Rubin, 2015). Therefore, it is quite necessary for researchers, therapists, and parents to come up with better solutions for autistic children, and the solutions should be practical for children in different countries. It is also helpful for researchers to discover the stressors and strengths associated to families with autistic children.
Parents of children with ASD encounter a variety of unexpected- emotional, physiological, and financial challenges in their lifetime. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders often have “elevated levels of depressive symptoms and psychological distress” (Meltzer, 2010, p. 362) and are at “a heightened risk for mental health problems” (Ingersoll & Hambrick, 2011 p. 337) not only compared to parents of neurotypical children; but also in contrast to parents with children with Down syndrome, an intellectual disability, fragile X syndrome, and development delay (Meltzer, 2010; Ingersoll & Hambrick, 2011).
Researchers have found that parents of children with autism experience greater stress than parents with typical developing children and children with other disabilities, including intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome. Research has also found that mothers of children with autism have significantly higher ratings of parental stress and negative psychological functioning than mothers of children without autism. When comparing a mother’s role to the fathers, mothers are reported to have higher levels of stress and depression, while fathers report more difficulty interacting with their child with autism. Mothers are more likely to be involved with their child’s everyday life activities and are more often affected by their child’s inability
Parents who have children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should define their parenting technique more so than parents of neurotypical children. Children with ASD have many different needs. For example, an ASD child has great difficulties with their social skills; this deficiency causes them not to have meaningful social interactions. Their interests are narrow, and it dominates the child's life (Volkmar & Klin, 2000, as cited in Sansosti & Powell-Smith, 2006).
Seventeen parents participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews that were studied by using thematic and grounded theory approaches. The data analysis revealed a common parental conflict: should parents not diagnose the child and by date avoid labeling and judgment from others or should they pursue a medical
A pilot study by McLeod (1999) over three years, with a sample of eight adults, using case studies and both qualitative and quantitative methods of research (including questionnaires, interviews and follow-up) described parents of individuals on the Autism spectrum, as ‘the
Participants were 493 parents of children with ASD, at ages3 to 21 years old. Most parents ranged in age from 22 to 72 years. Using a qualitative content analysis, 15 negative themes and 9 positive themes were identified. Five main themes were identified: Stress;
I agree with you, tantrums are one the most unpleasant behaviors in ASD and non-ASD children, I would say they are parent’s worst nightmare and a problem that all parents fear to deal with. Unfortunately, people believe that children are not disciplined at home when overreact in public. Children do tantrums as a way communication, to express themselves. But with play therapy, music, and breathing techniques can be improved. I used play therapy with my son, when we started the PCIT (parent child intervention therapy), I did the time-out square. When my son would do tantrums in public, I would pull out a blue handkerchief and place it on the floor in a specific corner for him to do time-out. I only did it about three times. When I knew
There is no doubt that raising a child with autism is challenging. There is endless research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but a very limited amount on the costs and benefits of caring for a person with the disorder. In order to gain a comprehensive perspective on the biggest challenges parents and caregivers of autistic children face, a look into the private lives of these families and close networks is necessary. The only way to give support and provide the much needed services required to help, one must ask them what the most difficult parts about managing autism are. Below examines three of the most common struggles these families face when trying to understand and help their autistic children develop into the capable people they are certainly able of becoming.