Effective Behaviors of Parents Raising a Child With an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that can present with a variety of symptoms such as impaired social interactions, difficulty with verbal and nonverbal communication, repetitive behaviors, and severely limited activities and interests. Depending on the severity of symptoms, the challenges presented for primary caregivers, typically the child’s parents, can be significant. Research has shown that the demands of the caregiver role can create challenges in areas such as marital relationships, physical health, social relationships, financial demands, and scheduling difficulties. The primary purpose of this study was to draw on the experiences of parents who have raised a child with ASD to identify common behaviors they identified as helping them to be more effective in parenting a child with ASD. This study was comprised of direct interviews and focus group discussions with 20 parents of children with ASD, in an effort to identify common behaviors which contributed to their effectiveness across five domains of common impact: marriage, health, social, financial, and schedule. Participants were able to identify a variety of behaviors as being useful for increasing effectiveness in dealing with the challenges they experienced in the five domains. Specific behaviors as well as categories of behavior common across multiple participants were identified. Those categories were tallied and used to identify the most common behaviors parents engaged in to address the challenges they experienced in raising their child with ASD. The most commonly endorsed behaviors were related to being adaptable, actively teaching children needed skills, activities of self-care, seeking or accepting support from friends, family, and autism service or treatment providers, and participating in or getting their children involved in activities outside the home. Other behaviors were endorsed as well and are addressed with the results. Based on this outcome, it is plausible that parents of young or newly diagnosed children with ASD could incorporate some of these behaviors into their own parenting behaviors to help increase the effectiveness of their parenting and help mitigate some of the stressors associated with raising a child with ASD.