Challenges of mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Covid- 19 pandemic

Subject Areas : Family

Maryam Khakrangin ¹ , mansour fathi ² , Aliye Shahrokhi ³

1 - Ph.D. in Social Work, Department of social work, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Corresponding author, Associate Professor of social work, Department of social work, Faculty of social sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.
3 - Bachelor of Social Work, Department of social work, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2022-02-25 Accepted : 2024-03-04 Published : 2024-03-11

Keywords: challenges, mothers, autism, corona, covid-19.,

Abstract :

This study aimed to investigate and to deeply understand challenges of mothers with autism children in the encountering of Covid-19 epidemic. The current study applies qualitative method. Purposive sampling and information saturating criteria is utilized in this study. Data were gathered on semi-structured depth interviews in 2022 year with fourteen mothers who had had an autism child in Tehran. The trustworthiness of this study was evaluated by peer reviews and group member checks. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Challenges of mothers were categorized in five main themes and Seventeen sub themes. Main themes include: The cycle of failure, increased symptoms of the disorder, increased roles and more resentment of the mother, lacks of support and pressure of Corona etiquette were the causes of stress and aggravation of maternal problems. This research showed that a family with child autism involves severely financial costs and they have to spend a lot of time and energy. family members suffer from annoying child behaviors and society reactions and they even have had difficulty in doing routine. In addition, Challenges related with covid-19 pandemic including Hygienic protocols and quarantine restrictions have made the situation worse than before. Therefore, seeing the special needs of families with autism children in social policy, providing services of psycho-social support for this group of families in the face of crises, raising public awareness about autism and developing social services to reduce problem is essential for promoting family resilience.

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