Privacy, Disability, and Family: Exploring the Privacy Management Behaviors of Parents with a Child with Autism

Abstract

This exploratory study utilizes communication privacy management theory to uncover how parents (n = 80) manage private details following their child’s autism diagnosis. Cross-sectional survey data revealed that disclosing risk-laden information about autism predicted boundary coordination. Further, the anticipation of boundary turbulence led parents to become less communicatively open and more coordinated when making disclosures. Content analysis results revealed that parents mainly confide in their own parents, siblings, friends, and certain medical professionals regarding private details of their child’s diagnosis. Findings highlight parents’ roles as information guardians in managing their family and child’s privacy after an unforeseeable diagnosis.

Keywords:

• Autism
• Communication Privacy Management Theory
• Family

Notes

^1. Of those 220 members listed, 14 were marked as “other” given that they conceptually fit better under personal network.