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ABSTRACT
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurological disorder that affects an individual's brain function and causes impairments in multiple areas of development. Parents of these children face difficulties in dealing with challenging behaviours, communication pattern, and basic life skills. Parents appear to carry the larger burden of care and experience stress related to coping with the heavy load of care giving. The present paper aims to highlight the major challenges and difficulties faced by parents having children with autism and their coping strategies in dealing with their children with ASD.
Key words: Challenges, Coping, Parents and Autism Spectrum Disorder
INTRODUCTION
The word autism is derived from the Greek word autos meaning self. The term was first used and defined in the 1912 American Journal of Insanity in reference to "instances where thought is divorced both from logic and from reality" (O'Brien & Daggett, 2006). According to Grinker (2007), Bleuler described these individuals as disengaged from others, isolated and self-absorbed. Bleuler used the term autism as an adjective to describe certain behaviours. It wasn't until 1943 that autism was used in reference to a specific developmental disorder (O'Brien & Daggett, 2006, Grinker, 2007).
In 1943, Leo Kanner published "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact" describing the children's behaviours and referring to these children as having "infantile autism" (Grinker, 2007). The children, eight boys and three girls, demonstrated an inability to relate to people and social situations, had minimal or no verbal skills, and had an extreme need to maintain sameness or routine, and engaged in repetitive behaviours (Volkmar & Wiesner, 2009, O'Brien & Daggett, 2006).
Autism Spectrum Disorder is extremely complex and has a wide range of symptoms. ASD is categorized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, IV ed. (DSM-IV) as a pervasive developmental disorder. An individual diagnosed with autism may communicate verbally or non-verbally, may follow restricted and repetitive routines as well as exhibit restricted motor mannerisms (American Psychological Association [APA], 2000). Children who are diagnosed with ASD are very interested in friendships but lack the social skills to develop these relationships and are unable to relate to peers. The population often displays atypical sensory related behaviours such as excessive rocking, spinning and twirling in order to self-stimulate. Another aspect...