There have been numerous investigations seeking to quantify the experience of parents raising adolescents of autism, but remarkably few have looked at the total experience qualitatively, as reported by parents. The present study was conducted along with a larger study for adolescents with autism participating in the PEERS® social skills group intervention, which includes simultaneous parent sessions. This study analyzed comments made in the parent group, identifying the issues parents reported spontaneously through a qualitative analysis of 12 unstructured hour-long sessions including parents (n = 16) and graduate student clinicians. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the meaning and experiences of these parents to gain increased understanding about the needs of both parents and adolescents with autism. Themes resulting from the hermeneutic analysis of these videos focused on the adolescents and their "spark," a term coined by the parents denoting the unique strengths of their children, the values they share with the family, the impact of autism on the family, lack of self-awareness, being included and finding "one good friend." There was also a strong theme of the parents seeking support from one another. Finally, the parents spoke often of planning for/hoping for the future and what it may bring for their adolescent with autism. These themes can help describe the challenges/successes of parenting an adolescent with autism. This study provides some direction for further research to inform supports for parents whose children are approaching or are in the midst of adolescence with autism. Some other findings in our study were that parents are very concerned about acceptance of family values by their adolescent. Future studies can explore further what parents' needs are and how clinicians can help them.

<p>Att bli förälder är oftast ett av de största ögonblicken i en människas liv. Många förväntar sig att få en ljuvlig tid, men om barnet får kolik kan denna tid istället bli fylld av barnskrik som vänder upp och ned på hela familjesituationen. Flertal föräldrar till barn med kolik upplever att de tappar kontrollen över sina liv. Syftet med studien var att beskriva mödrars erfarenheter av att ha levt med spädbarn som haft kolik. Metoden var en kvalitativ intervjustudie. Åtta mödrar från tre olika barnavårdcentraler intervjuades. Intervjumaterialet analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Intervjumaterialet resulterade i ett tema och fem kategorier. Resultatet visade att det var viktigt att mödrarna fick avlastning och stöttning ifrån släkt, vänner och via bvc, för att klara den egentligen korta kolikperioden, som en del föräldrar benämner som en hel evighet när de är mitt i den. Till följ av tidsbrist och sömnbrist var det svårt att känna glädje över vardagen. Studien kan bidra till att sjuksköterskan på barnavårdscentralen (bvc) ökar sin lyhördhet och tar del av föräldrarnas upplevelser, genom att bemöta föräldrarna på ett stödjande och professionellt sätt.</p> / <p>Becoming a parent is usually one of the greatest expectations a person can have. Many expect this time to be one of life´s happiest. Instead this newborn period may be filled with incessant crying, turning the family expectations completely upside down. Many parents of colicy children feel that they lose control over their lives. The purpose of this study was to share mother´s knowledge of this situation through a qualitative interview study. Eight mothers from three different child welfare clinics were interviewed. The interview material was analysed using qualitative content analysis ending up with one theme and five categories. The result showed that it was important that mother’s were relieved from this situation by family, friends and through child welfare clinic, to be able to cope with this comparatively short colicy period. Some parents felt this was never ending when they were in the midst of it. Without relief and lack of sleep parents felt that they could not get their expected pleasure out of daily doings. This study may contribute to the child welfare clinic nurses sensitivity and comprehension of the parents experiences by meeting these parents with a supportive and competent manner.</p>

Att bli förälder är oftast ett av de största ögonblicken i en människas liv. Många förväntar sig att få en ljuvlig tid, men om barnet får kolik kan denna tid istället bli fylld av barnskrik som vänder upp och ned på hela familjesituationen. Flertal föräldrar till barn med kolik upplever att de tappar kontrollen över sina liv. Syftet med studien var att beskriva mödrars erfarenheter av att ha levt med spädbarn som haft kolik. Metoden var en kvalitativ intervjustudie. Åtta mödrar från tre olika barnavårdcentraler intervjuades. Intervjumaterialet analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Intervjumaterialet resulterade i ett tema och fem kategorier. Resultatet visade att det var viktigt att mödrarna fick avlastning och stöttning ifrån släkt, vänner och via bvc, för att klara den egentligen korta kolikperioden, som en del föräldrar benämner som en hel evighet när de är mitt i den. Till följ av tidsbrist och sömnbrist var det svårt att känna glädje över vardagen. Studien kan bidra till att sjuksköterskan på barnavårdscentralen (bvc) ökar sin lyhördhet och tar del av föräldrarnas upplevelser, genom att bemöta föräldrarna på ett stödjande och professionellt sätt. / Becoming a parent is usually one of the greatest expectations a person can have. Many expect this time to be one of life´s happiest. Instead this newborn period may be filled with incessant crying, turning the family expectations completely upside down. Many parents of colicy children feel that they lose control over their lives. The purpose of this study was to share mother´s knowledge of this situation through a qualitative interview study. Eight mothers from three different child welfare clinics were interviewed. The interview material was analysed using qualitative content analysis ending up with one theme and five categories. The result showed that it was important that mother’s were relieved from this situation by family, friends and through child welfare clinic, to be able to cope with this comparatively short colicy period. Some parents felt this was never ending when they were in the midst of it. Without relief and lack of sleep parents felt that they could not get their expected pleasure out of daily doings. This study may contribute to the child welfare clinic nurses sensitivity and comprehension of the parents experiences by meeting these parents with a supportive and competent manner.

Millions of students with disabilities in the United States have access to educational programming to assist and provide special education support services. In existence for mere decades, special education as it currently stands was founded on groundbreaking legislation and refining law in the form of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The most recent revision of this law in 2004 significantly extended parents' rights to be decision-makers in the educational planning process for children with disabilities. A litany of research into parent experiences of the IEP and special education process reveals that parents consistently report feelings of being marginalized in the decision-making process. A systematic literature review conducted by the author revealed that parents and family members of children with ASD report broadly similar themes of dissatisfaction with the special education process and communicating with staff. The current research proposal seeks to investigate the interaction experiences with Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP) personnel of parents and family members of elementary-aged children with ASD. LSSPs, recognized as possessing expertise on autism spectrum disorder amongst special education evaluation personnel, often conduct evaluations for students with ASD.

This study used descriptive phenomenology to address the research question: What is the experience of parents who have a child with any disability in selecting a school for their child? Nine parents of a child with any disability from the Greater Vancouver area participated in this study. Through one-on-one in-depth interviews, the parents shared their experiences in selecting a school for their child. Using Colaizzi's descriptive phenomenological method for analysis, six broad themes were revealed that described the parents' experience of finding a school: a) the school itself, b) the child's needs, c) the parent's own experience, d) the family's involvement in the decision, e) non-school supports; and f) availability or lack of choice. Findings were discussed in relation to relevant literature, implications for both parents and school systems were addressed, and further research options were offered. / Graduate

No description available.