Experience of Parenting a Child With ASD

Abstract

This research study explored the lived experience of fathers who have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The reason for this exploration was due to lack of available research on how parenting a child with ASD impacts father’s lived experience. The importance in understanding fathers’ experiences was to gain awareness and, ultimately, offer additional ways to support fathers. Six participants were recruited and, through a qualitative methodology, were asked to complete a brief demographic questionnaire and participate in a semistructured interview to gain a sense of their experience parenting a child with ASD. Various themes arose that offer greater understanding of fathers’ lived experience, such as how they make sense of an ASD diagnosis, the impact on the family system, and the stressors fathers experience. Future research studies may benefit from changing the methodology to make research more generalizable.