“We’ve got a special connection”: qualitative analysis of descriptions of change in the parent–child relationship by mothers of young children with autism spectrum disorder (original) (raw)
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Electronic Journal of Research in Education Psychology
Introduction. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a continuum of traits that may negatively affect social and emotional competencies of individuals, including challenges in their engagement abilities, possible limitations in reciprocal interactions, and inflexibility in initiating and sustaining communication. Such challenges may affect language development and speech acquisition. Considering their importance, this study explored the impact of a family-centered, music therapy intervention to promote preverbal and verbal communication skills of young children with ASD during parent–child, music engagement episodes. Method. A mixed-methods design was implemented to gather data on the children’s preverbal and verbal communication abilities (pre-and-post intervention data collection) and on each dyad’s musical interactions during a 16-week music therapy intervention. Quantitative outcome measures included children’s scores on the Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills (PP...
2020
Opportunities for meaningful community participation may influence the development and well-being of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families as well as impact how community members perceive and understand ASD. In the current study, we aimed to understand how a parent-child integrated music class program could be used to promote community participation and family well-being. Caregivers of preschoolers (2-5 years of age) with ASD and those of peer children with typical development were interviewed about their participation in a parent-child integrated music class program. Thematic analysis of interviews revealed that all caregivers viewed program participation as positive. Caregivers emphasized increasing connections within families, such as through strengthening parent-child bonds, as well as connections across families, including increased understanding of ASD and sensitivity to the experience of parenting. Many caregivers perceived the class as supporting...
Journal of Early Intervention
A qualitative study of three parents and their toddlers with autism was conducted to investigate the communicative functions underlying parent–toddler interactions and how the instrumental or social nature of one partner’s actions influenced the other’s engagement. Parent–child interaction videos collected from a separate intervention study were transcribed with thick description, coded for literal and inferential meaning by independent coders, and analyzed for emergent themes following an iterative process of code categorization. Themes converged around the partner as instrument, attempted but missed social connections, and congruent social engagement. A complementary interactional sequential analysis revealed that communicative functions of initiating partners were largely mirrored in their partners’ responding actions, suggesting that actively supporting parents to interact with their toddlers socially, rather than prescriptively or instrumentally, may be a potent intervention st...
Music & Science, 2021
Some autistic children display an intuitive capacity to reproduce and restyle the musical stimuli that they encounter in their environments. Music also offers a safe space for the development of social competencies and, across the spectrum, musical interventions are regarded as an effective way of promoting engagement with others. Yet, there is a lack of empirically researched music programs for parents and carers of children with autism. In this study, 11 families with autistic children incorporated music making into everyday life, supported by researcher-practitioners and framed by resources outlining musical activities based on the Sounds of Intent in the Early Years framework. Assessment of video data and interviews revealed that the new resources were flexible enough to be adapted to each child and they helped parents to build confidence to engage with their children musically. It was found that children had an increased interest and engagement in music as well as in joint play...
The thorn in the dyad: A vision on parent-child relationship in autism spectrum disorder
Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 2018
Parents and children form a family: their characteristics balance personal and family well-being with healthy levels of stress. Research on parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrated that higher levels of parental stress are associated with communication impairment, a core symptom of ASD. The aim of this article is to discuss the connection between non-verbal communication impairment and parental psychological distress, in families with children with ASD. The interaction between atypical communication and distress of parents likely determines a cascade effect on the parent-child dyad; in fact, it decreases the quality and frequency of interactions, preventing the establishment of a healthy parent-child relationship and leading to a series of collateral problems. To this perspective, guiding the parents to reframe their children's atypical communicative behaviour can relieve parental stress and reprogram the interactional routine. This observation stresses the importance of interventions centred on the dyad, especially during early development and soon after the diagnosis, when the communicative impairment may be extremely severe.
Listening and hearing the voices of parents with children with autism : a phenomenological study
2014
This study describes the experiences of parents who have a child with autism. Four themes emerged from a thematic analysis of in depth interviews with eight parents. All the parents interviewed experienced a sense of isolation which often manifested itself in a reluctance to participate in social events. Also, the advent of having a child with autism impacted families in different ways, however variably all the parents described feeling overwhelmed due to the demands associated with services and care for their child. Lack of support from family, friends and school districts was noted. The study points out that it is necessary to provide continuous opportunities for parents to engage with others who have experienced the same phenomenon in order to share experiences and feel connected to one another.
The Experience of Parenting Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Content Analysis
Child Care in Practice , 2021
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the range of experiences encountered by parents and caretakers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Materials and methods: An inductive conventional content analysis approach was utilized for this study. Twenty-four (N = 24) parent responses to open-ended questions about their experience parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder were analyzed. Results: Based on content analysis of responses, five main categories emerged: emotional distress, growth and role change, perspective change, support or the need for support, and family strain. Within the main categories, 20 subcategories were identified. Conclusion: Findings from this study show that families and caretakers of children with autism spectrum disorder endorse many emotions and complex experiences, both positive and negative. The implications from these data are great and include the need for support and resources for families impacted by autism spectrum disorder.
Parents’ Perceptions of the Problems in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Qualitative Study
Iranian Rehabilitation Journal
Objectives: Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have valuable experiences of the possible developmental problems and other issues of their children as the primary caregivers. The present study aimed to obtain proper information by considering these experiences using a qualitative approach to explain the parents’ perception of problems in their children with ASD. Methods: This study with a qualitative design was performed on 35 parents of children with ASD (33 mothers and 2 fathers) who were selected via purposive sampling. The study data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and all sessions were recorded and immediately transcribed verbatim. We followed the Graneheim and Lundman (2003) content analysis approach (a step-by-step extraction of meaning unit, initial codes, subtheme, and theme). Results: We extracted 5 main themes of developmental, language comprehension and expression, social communication, behavioral, and general health problems. Each of...
Iranian Rehabilitation Journal, 2022
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have valuable experiences of the possible developmental problems and other issues of their children as the primary caregivers. The present study aimed to obtain proper information by considering these experiences using a qualitative approach to explain the parents' perception of problems in their children with ASD. Methods: This study with a qualitative design was performed on 35 parents of children with ASD (33 mothers and 2 fathers) who were selected via purposive sampling. The study data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and all sessions were recorded and immediately transcribed verbatim. We followed the Graneheim and Lundman (2003) content analysis approach (a step-by-step extraction of meaning unit, initial codes, subtheme, and theme). Results: We extracted 5 main themes of developmental, language comprehension and expression, social communication, behavioral, and general health problems. Each of these mentioned themes has several subthemes. Discussion: According to the results, the parents' perceptions and experiences of their ASD children's problems were similar to the findings reported by experts in a few related studies. Given the lived experiences of the parents of children with ASD, they could help enrich the references regarding the problems of children with ASD. Such data should be considered during the assessment and intervention for this group of children.