FUTURE OF A CHILD WITH AUTISM: NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF THEIR PARENTS’ ATTITUDE

Abstract

Results: The study involved four fathers that each are raising a child with a diagnosis of autism.Comparing the narratives of the participants in the study, the interrelated components emerged, which constitute a narrative of the parental attitude towards the child’s future.Conclusions: The spreading of autism on a global scale, affecting more and more people without any restrictions on gender, race, social layer or other human identifications, creates new theories and promotes the scientific research of the spreading of autism. Autism is an interdisciplinary challenge that requires a wide range of research.Reconstructing the narrative of parents who raise children with autism does not contradict the factors found in scientific literature, they are expanded by individual experiences. Parents’ stories revealed the interrelated components that make up the narrative of the parental attitudes towards the child’s future: near future, additional education, education, and the farther future.The narrative of the near future revealed that parental narratives are dominated by the three components of the narrative: the child’s social relationships (parents’ expectations focus on the desire for the child to interact with peers and acquire social skills), the acquisition of minimal academic knowledge (parents are deeply experiencing their child’s failures in elementary reading, writing skills, calculation skills), childhood diagnosis (most feared complications, diagnosis of weight loss).The narrative of supplementary education highlighted the limitations of access to non-formal education for children with autism. Parental stories reveal that for a child with autism disorder, the involvement of parents in the educational process and the opportunity to develop not only in school, but also in non-formal education institutions is important. The lack of specific education curricula for the development of children with autism is also highlighted in the reality of education, and professionals working in the form of non-formal, alternative education programs that are paid have a significant impact on family budgets.The narrative of education revealed that parents understand the meaning of education and want children to pursue a vocational education. The current situation is not satisfactory for parents, they expect inclination for the society to change.Further narrative of the future reflects the parents’ expectations regarding the independent lives of children, their ability to care for themselves and the ability to create their own families. It turned out that parents’ narratives about each component are accompanied by anxiety and feelings of fear, but in all stories there is also an aspect of hope. With paramount expectations parents are striving for recognition in society, the development of the educational system, the progress of medicine and diagnostics.The research revealed the social and emotional significance of the family, while actualizing the fact that the child’s disability affects the social participation of the whole family and determines the importance of complex care for the whole family.