Understanding strengths and challenges of people with autism: insights from parents and practitioners

Abstract

This study is an attempt to bridge the gap between the understanding of strengths and challenges of people with autism to operationalize a strength-based approach to serve people with autism effectively. By virtue of being based on firsthand accounts by parents and practitioners the people who spend prolonged periods with people with autism in natural settings, and are privy to direct observation of abilities and challenges, the study yields in-depth information that addresses a continued gap in the existing literature on the subject. Twenty participants (13 parents and seven practitioners) took part in the study through a semi-structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed following qualitative thematic analysis methodology. Strengths and related challenges experienced were extracted as the broad themes, based on which support needs were derived and future directions recommended. The paper recommends strategic home–school collaborations with crucial, concurrent roles played by parents and practitioners.

Keywords:

• skill development
• parents and practitioners
• autism spectrum disorder
• early markers of strengths and abilities
• nurturance

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the participants (parents and practitioners) for their agreeableness to voluntarily participate in the study, for their willingness and for trusting us to share the 1st hand account on the crucial area. We would like to thank the wonderful peoples in and outside the autistic community who generously helped with the recruitment process.

Author contributions

SH primarily conceptualized the study, collected data, analyzed, and wrote the manuscript. SMB facilitated at every stage since beginning from shaping the thought process and contributing to the fine-tuning of the manuscript throughout. SB also assisted in the recruitment of samples for the study. WSG reviewed the manuscript and contributed to refinement further through the final stage of the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript before submission.

Conflict of interest

Authors declares no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study is a part of ethically approved study by the Cornell University IRB board under the Human subject exempt category (approval ref: Protocol ID#: 2001009333).

Informed consent

Written consent was undertaken from each of the participants as per Cornell University protocol and format.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for the 1st author was supported by Fulbright Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, United States India Education Foundation (USIEF), India and International Institute of Education (IIE), USA (Bilateral) (grant number: PS00281224).