Father involvement in the care, play, and education of children with autism

ABSTRACT

Background Despite general increased recognition of the importance of fathers, their role in the lives of children with autism remains underresearched.

Methods This study aimed to investigate the nature and extent of father involvement through an online survey of fathers of children with a diagnosis of autism in the UK.

Results Of the 306 fathers who completed the survey, half indicated that they were mainly or equally responsible for their children’s daily care routines, irrespective of the child’s age or diagnosis. More fathers spent time engaged in play than any other activity, although nearly half had received no relevant training. Many fathers supported their children’s education, especially helping with homework. The greatest obstacle to further engagement was the demands of employment.

Conclusions Findings are discussed within the context of the wider developmental literature. A more gender-differentiated approach to service provision is called for, alongside further research on enhancing father engagement in play and education.

KEYWORDS:

• autism
• fathers
• care
• play
• education

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the 306 fathers of children with autism who took time out of very busy lives to complete the survey. Many thanks to Dr Chris Whittaker for his unstinting support throughout the research project and in particular for his insightful comments on this paper. Thanks also to Dr Paul Marchant for his guidance on aspects of analysis. Finally, thanks to Roger Olley, MBE, Professor John Carpenter, and Phil Heslop for their expert contribution to the verification group.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Leverhulme Trust through their Research Fellowship program.