3.9 “Searching for Acceptance: Challenges Encountered While Raising a Child with Autism” by Matthew J. Altiere and Silvia Von Kluge
Fifty-two parents of children with autism were interviewed in order to qualitatively explore their struggles and their successes. The results indicate that five challenges that developed from these family’s experiences were development, questioning, devastation, solutions, and growth (Altiere & Kluge, 2009).
Every parent defined the confusion that resulted from their child’s behavioral presentation and the feelings of loss and devastation that arose after discovering that their child has autism. Yet, parents have been immediately ready to activate resources to help their child. Nearly every parent described major,
…show more content…
These parents experience difficult situations facing their community, friends, and extended family. They note that there is a lot of ignorance among many of the general public in regards to the challenges of raising a child with ASD. The lack of acceptance comes as a result of a stigma about autism. For this reason, parents who are looking for acceptance from the public might face rejection and condescending attitudes towards them (Altiere & Kluge, 2009).
Parents in the study also reported that sharing their story is liberating. These parents were astonished by the fact that they were actually able to raise a strong family and keep developing their personal growth, despite the difficulties related to raising a child with ASD (Altiere & Kluge, 2009).
The parents learned that some areas of their life improved thanks to their experiences with raising their special need child. The hope and joy and the love they have for their child can provide significant hope for the family. Additionally, the parents learned to how to better support their own needs for positive support and acceptance. (Altiere & Kluge,
…show more content…
Schieve, Stephen J. Blumberg, Catherine Rice, Susanna N. Visser, and Coleen Boyle
The study examines the relations between parenting a child with autism and the parent’s stress symptoms. In the survey, parents and caregivers of children aged four to 17 years indicate their feelings regarding the sacrifices required from them in order to raise their children, as well as the challenges, frustrations, and feelings of resentment towards their children (Schieve, Blumberg, Rice, Visser, & Boyle, 2007).
Parents of children with autism were compared with parents of the following groups: children that require special health care relatd to emotional, developmental, or behavioral issues other than autism; children that require special health care with no developmental issues; and children with no special health care requirements (Schieve, Blumberg, Rice, Visser, & Boyle,
This book was a great read. The heartwarming tale of two young children who manage to overcome the disability under the category of autism. The author, the mother of these two children, uses her language to make the reader feel connected with the struggles of the family and the elated feeling when the children are deemed functioning within normal levels. This book gives insight on several different therapies, some that seemed helpful and others that seemed silly. It touches on the subject of inclusion as well. This book allows individuals to relate to those who have children with autism and gives parents of children with autism hope that their child's disability is not a permanent one.
To begin defines what autism is, and the stress that is bestowed onto the caregivers that support a child with this type of mental disability. Adam M. Hutton, the author, had conducted an interview of 21 families about the recognition, diagnosis of autism in their child, services accessed, and the impact of having a child with autism on their family. A common thread throughout the thesis is the empowerment of families, that have to endure the joys and hardships that come with having a child with specific needs. The author also encourages families to use the resources available to them to better care for this type of
ASD individuals may find it hard to communicate and socialize with others around them. However, because each child is unique, they have their own unique abilities and ways of responding to new experiences. Other issues children with ASD have include; anxiety, sleeping problems, and learning disabilities. Those who are diagnosed with ASD or any other disability are usually judged and bullied. In the documentary Violet’s mother says she is afraid of her child being labeled and underestimated because she is diagnosed with autism. A child’s disability can also affect their family members. Family members may have a difficult time understanding and getting to know the autistic child in order to provide for them. They struggle to find interventions such as treatment and therapy for them, the right medical care, and trying learn to cope with all this. At times parents and caregivers can also feel stressed or irritated knowing they have to fulfill all of the child’s needs. Siblings on the other hand, may find it unfair that the autistic child gets the most attention and
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
For the purpose of these literature review a search was done using PubMed which is available through the Medical Library of the National Guard Health Services. This research focus is Autism and its management. Using these four key words "Autism" "definition" , "symptoms", and "treatment". As result, nine papers were found and this literature review summarizes them.
Stoner, J. B., & Thompson, S. J. (2005). Welcome to our World: Parent perceptions of interactions between parents of young children with ASD and education professionals. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 20(1), 39-51.
Parents of children with autism often suffer from stress and anxiety. Dealing with children with autism places extraordinary demands on the shoulder of parents that can be added over the usual parental daily work and responsibilities. Compounding the needs and work load of the family members to the responsibilities of raising a child with autism can be multiplied and easily create a hectic situation where parents feel the pressure under such circumstances and suffer psychological symptoms that can be overwhelming to both parents and siblings of children with autism.
I was responsible for implementing intervention for one child with autism, while also working with his typically developing sibling and interacting with their parents. Often times, this child had temper tantrums which taught me to quickly and effectively respond to his outbursts. This hands-on experience expanded my understanding as to how people adapt to a lifestyle when they have a family member that is not typically developing. Having the parents’ approval and trust in working with their child showed me the crucial importance of having a strong connection with individual
Gray, D. E. (2002). Ten years on: A longitudinal study of families of children with autism. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 27, 215-222.
Stephanie Lindsey the author of the article Autism and Education addresses some serious issues in the education system between the special needs students and the highly gifted students. Stephanie writes the article based off her children and how they are treated in school. Her son has autism, which affects his capability to learn, speak, and to train himself when it comes to bathroom use. Also never being alone in school due to him having a personal aid alongside him with special classes he is treaded with a different type of education. Her daughter on the other hand tests in the 95th percentile nationwide on standardized testing. She’s twelve and her capability of progressing information and taking complex ideas apart and putting them back together to form new thoughts is like no normal twelve year old. She reads entire novels, solves Sudoku puzzles, and also participates in her school
tried giving him a drink or some food in the hope that she had guessed
Autism is an intricate developmental disorder that is characteristically noticed by parents and or diagnosed by parents between the ages of eight-teen months and three years of age. In recent studies, Werner (2001) isolated themes from in-depth interviews conducted with different parents of children with autism. These themes included the following findings: the family’s life revolves around dealing with the child’s autism and unusual behaviors; parents feel losses because they and their children cannot lead a so called normal life; and the family experiences only fleeting moments of actually feeling like a typical family. Autism does not effect a particular type of person it occurs in all social, racial, and ethnic groups.
There has been an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism or other autism spectrum disorders. It is likely as an educator that you will have at least one child with this diagnosis in your classroom. This paper explores some of the methods used to teach autistic children.
“Although bound together by a spectrum disorder diagnosis, autistic people are essentially like snowflakes: all similar yet essentially unique” (Cariello 41). Each child with autism offers his own unique perspective on life, his own diverse struggles, and his own inspiring desires. Parenting a child with autism, though, can be a very difficult task. While the challenge can leave parents and caregivers exhausted and confused, in her book What Color is Monday, author Carrie Cariello beautifully portrays the challenges and joys of caring for a child with autism.
Raising a child with a disability may have some difficulties and challenges but it will have a lot of rewards; just as having a normal child. A parent want their child to live a normal fulfilling life as any other normal child. This life style will take extra patience, time and adaptive equipment and a special person to do it. When accepting that your child has a disability it is good to get all the literature on that type of disability. This will help you understand your child’s disability. A parent involvement is needed to find support groups, so they can get some insight on things someone from the support group has done to get certain things accomplished.