Mothers‟ Voices: A Phenomenological Study on the Stress and Resilience of Mothers Raising children with Autism
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2020-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex neurological disorder which causes impairments in multiple areas of development including social interaction, communication and behavior. Although there are researches detailing the challenges, stresses, coping strategies and lived experiences faced by parents of children with autism, and the majority of this work did not involve the mothers stress and resilience in raising children with autism. Little known about mothers that; carry the bulk of parenting work in raising children with autism. Using qualitative phenomenological approach, this study sought to explore mothers’ stress and resilience of having a child with autism. Bronfenbranner’s ecological systems theory and strength perspective were the guiding theoretical framework for this study .Ten mothers of children with autism were recruited through purposeful sampling .Semi structured interviews were conducted with mothers of children with autism. A thematic analysis was used to extract three major themes: (1) Major experiences of mothers during and after the diagnosis, (2) Causes of stress in mothers ’ of children with autism, (3) Major Coping strategies used by the mothers’ to strengthen their resilience against stress. .The thesis elucidated finding also have implications for policy maker, program developer, professionals and practitioners which recognition of mothers’ meaning –making, stress, coping mechanism and resilience can influence policies, programs, strategies, child-based educational and therapeutic efforts. The finding can inform social workers, researchers, policy makers and program developers in facilitating strategies to mitigate these stressors; and help to establish a support to better supports mothers who have children with autism.
Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Stress, New Motherhood and Resilience
Description
Keywords
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Stress, New Motherhood and Resilience