Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Paper

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Childcare Patterns and Issues for Families of Preschool Children with Autism

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are the most rapidly growing student population served in special education. As a result, several early childhood programs targeting such students have been established in the education sector. These programs are established to help meet the special needs of these children while promoting and enhancing their academic growth and achievements. In addition, family members play a critical role in the development and growth of these children with respect to meeting their special needs. Mereiou, Bland & Niemeyer (2015) state that the increase in diagnosis of ASD among children has made families and policymakers to champion for initiatives that enhance knowledge and understanding of their needs. Understanding these needs is essential toward improving the effectiveness of interventions and related services. Additionally, understanding the needs of these children help families to adopt suitable childcare patterns and deal with emerging issues effectively.

Background Information

ASD diagnosis among children has increased significantly in recent years and generated new demands on families and special needs educators. ASD account for the highest population of special needs students in the education sector. According to Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau (2014) recent evidence has shown that diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children has become more prevalent. This condition is characterized by difficulties in social communication and behavior as well as impaired child and family functioning. Consequently, children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders need intensive educational, healthcare, and behavioral services in comparison to normal children. These intensive services are in turn characterized by substantial financial, time, and care coordination investments. Families of children with autism spectrum disorders deal with issues relating to the condition and face the need to utilize childcare patterns that meet the children’s needs. Some of the major issues faced by families of children with ASD include adverse family employment and financial stressors (Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau, 2014). These issues are primarily attributable to the complexities associated with providing care for these children given their special needs. 

Since ASD diagnosis in children has become more prevalent, stakeholders within the education sector have become increasingly concerned. The prevalence of ASD diagnosis has resulted in the development of early childhood programs that seek to meet the needs of these children. These programs also seek to promote the growth and development of these children in academics, behaviorally and socially. Early childhood programs are considered critical toward enhancing the outcomes of these children. However, services for these children are limited, which has resulted in calls for their inclusion in these programs during pre-school years. It is assumed that inclusion of these children during pre-school years would help enhance their social and language behaviors. In addition, families of children with ASD need to skills on suitable childcare practices and how to deal with issues relating to the condition. Current childcare patterns for these families are characterized by numerous difficulties resulting in poor health-related quality of life, family burden, poorer psychological wellbeing, financial stress, under/unemployment, and poorer physical and mental health (Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau, 2014).

Research Context

As evident in the background information, families of children with autism face challenges relating to childcare patterns and issues brought by complexities of the condition.

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This comes at a time when there are minimal inclusive programs to promote inclusion of these children during pre-school years despite the potential benefits of such inclusion on their growth and development (Stahmer, Akshoomoff & Cunningham, 2011). Stein, Foran & Cermak (2011) contend that parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder can be a complex experience for parents. This is primarily because child diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders is a life-altering event to many parents. According to the findings of recent studies, families have reported experiences of sadness, denial, despair, anger, and confusion when their child is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (Stein, Foran & Cermak, 2011). These experiences are attributable to the impact of the condition on a child’s functioning and social communication and…

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…entails the study of a population through observation of members (Jansen, 2010). In this case, the study will be carried out among families of preschool children with ASD to understand their experiences, childcare patterns, and issues. Qualitative survey research is based on ethnography, which is the study of the behaviors, perceptions, and interactions that take place within organizations, teams, communities, and groups (Reeves, Kuper & Hodges, 2008). Ethnography, which is rooted in anthropology, focuses on providing rich, holistic insights in the views and actions of people relating to the issue under investigation. In this case, the views and experiences of families of preschool children with ASD will provide rich, holistic insights on this issue, help in answering the research questions, and address the gap in existing literature. 

For data collection, the researcher will conduct observations and interviews on a group of families of children with autism spectrum disorders. Since this study is based on ethnography, observations and interviews are suitable data collection instruments that help obtain rich data from participants (Reeves, Peller, Goldman & Kitto, 2013). The use of families of children with ASD as participants in this research is geared toward generating rich data. Ponto (2015) states that observations and interviews help to generate rich from individuals or groups when conducting qualitative survey research.

This study will be carried out in Strathclyde, which has been identified as an ideal location. Strathclyde is considered suitable for the study since it has different educational institutes for children with autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, the researcher will easily identify relevant research groups in this area for the study. In addition, the researcher has selected this location because of his experience working as teacher in an autism institute for children. The researcher seeks to utilize his experience as a teacher in an autism institute for children to collect and analyze data for the study. Through this experience, the researcher will formulate relevant open-ended questions for the interviews, which will help yield rich data from the study’s participants.

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