Parenting a Child with Autism: Considering the Stresses, Supports and Implications for Social Work Practice

ABSTRACT

Caring for a child that has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has implications for parents’ social and emotional health and well-being. The following article presents the findings from a review of the literature to help elucidate some of the issues that these parents experience. The article begins by arguing that early intervention is the key to supporting parents that care for children with ASD but that with the current reduction of services to this population of parents, that early intervention is not always possible. The article continues by highlighting some of the emotional and social consequences parents encounter as outlined in the literature. These consequences include heightened levels of stress and anxiety—particularly in mothers—compromised parental mental and emotional health and well-being, depression, isolation, guilt and loneliness. The article offers some recommendations for practice to help mitigate these negative consequences. The article hopes to demonstrate that a systemic, family-centred, trans-disciplinary approach is crucial to alleviating parental stress and that the social work practitioner is ideally positioned to encourage the protective factors which could potentially enhance family resilience. This article will further argue that the impact of caring for a child(ren) with ASD is a family issue, and that specialist training, with regards to children with ASD and the stresses experienced by their parents, should be available to all social work professionals. Finally, in an effort to help policy makers and legislators as well as researchers and practitioners better respond to parental needs, recommendations are made for further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism
• Parental impact

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul McCafferty

Dr Paul McCafferty is lecturer in social work at Ulster University. Professionally qualified in social work, he spent 12 years as a practitioner and senior manager, and then 15 years in training and organisational development in health and social care as trainer and senior manager. Paul's research interests are in risk assessment, professional judgement, decision making, and the use of knowledge to inform practice. Paul also has an interest in children's rights, particularly the participation rights of children in statutory child protection fora, as well as in practice teaching and student learning.

Judith McCutcheon

Judith McCutcheon currently practices as a social worker in an Integrated Care Team, within the Primary Care Sector, providing community supports and interventions to older people and their families in Northern Ireland. Judith's research interests relate broadly to the area of mental health and capacity with specific interest in the practice and experiences of professionals who work to support service users who are experiencing mental health difficulties.