Thesis (Psy.D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-120).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-64).

Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD's) represent some of the most common developmental disorders amongst children today (Rapin, 1994), yet knowledge and interventions for these disorders remain minimal. Access to resources for diagnosis and intervention for children with ASD's in South Africa appears to be limited to a few families. For this select population, many difficulties and much dissatisfaction with diagnostic processes remain. This study aimed to capture the experiences of parents whose children had received ASD diagnoses. This study was qualitative in nature and took the form of semi structured interviews with a total of eight parents of ASD children (7 mothers and 1 father). These interviews highlighted key issues in the area of ASD's in South Africa, including: a lack of knowledge amongst professionals, an unwillingness to diagnose, and lack of available support and facilities. Data collected from this sample revealed that the average age of diagnosis of children was 6 years old, and the average number of years taken to reach diagnosis was 3 years 3 months. Although these figures correlate with international research, participants of this study revealed that it had taken on average 7.2 medical practitioners to diagnose their children with ASD's. This number is significantly higher in South Africa than research from other countries indicates. These findings are discussed in this research study, with emphasis being placed on implications for early intervention in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

It was identified that there was little published research into the lived experience of parenting a child with autism that utilised a qualitative approach. There was a paucity of material in the literature, beyond single parent accounts, for a nurse to turn to develop a beginning understanding of the experience. There was also little for a parent to compare their own experience with. This study of the lived experience of parenting a child with autism provides an exploration of the experience within the framework of a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Initially nine parents were interviewed and the resulting transcripts analysed. This analysis was taken to four focus groups to allow the parent's voice to remain active in the refinement of the analysis. The parents reported a strong resonance with the analysis and the discussion fell silent. The experience identified was not that of a series of activities but profound changes to the self of the parent. This is considered in the discussion in the light of the existential challenge to the parent's being posed by the demands of parenting a child with autism. Chaos theory and its mathematical applications are considered as a potentially fruitful way to pick up the conversational relation with the question of, "what is the lived experience of parenting a child with autism"?

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Technology, Sydney, 2003.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2007. / Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology." Bibliography: leaves 48-56.

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2006. / "Publication number AAT 3316570"

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-78).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, May, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--Rhodes University, 2005. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Text in English and Afrikaans.