Research on Relationships within a Family Having a Child with Autism, and Family Relations with the Social Environment

Abstract

The child’s autism significantly changes many areas of his family’s life and the family’s relationship with the social en­vironment. We studied how the presence of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects relationships within the family, the interaction of such a family with relatives, friends, and strangers. A survey of parents of children with autism was conducted in 43 regions of the Russian Federation. The answers from 604 questionnaires to the questions were analyzed: “When it turned out that your child had ASD, how did this affect mutual understanding in the family? How did the next of kin, friends, react to this? How often is your child’s behavior perceived in public? “In all cases, the changes were different, but if positive reactions prevailed in the family, relatives and friends (45.1%, 67.1% and 61.5%, respectively), then outsiders reacted negatively in 68.2% of cases (avoidance, condemnation, rejection). It has been shown that the main cause of intra-family difficulties is the peculiarities of the child’s behavior, problems of up­bringing, a shortage of qualified assistance and — to a much lesser extent — financial problems. It was concluded that the difficulties of interaction with society increase as the range of social relations expands and are due to a low level of awareness of autism and related issues. Educational work and training of parents and family members of a child with ASD are considered as the main way to overcome the identified difficulties.