Being a Parent of a Child With Autism From Diagnosis to the University Years

Abstract

When literature is examined, it is seen that generally there are descriptive studies examining the effects of young children with autism in a certain age or age range on their parents’ marital and family relationships as well as psychological conditions such as mourning, stress, anxiety, and depression. Longitudinal studies on the social experiences of parents of children with autism are scarce. It was observed that there was not a longitudinal study in Turkey, evaluating the emotional processes parents live through from the years when their children are diagnosed with autism until the university education, the changes they experience in family relations, the problems they encounter in their children’s education process, and the emotional-social support services they receive/do not receive. This study is a qualitative study that examines the 15–16 years of experience of autistic children’s parents by analyzing video interview records that were carried out using a semi-structured interview form. The results were examined under seven themes and five sub-themes, and the results that were obtained were in accordance with the literature.