Understanding the experiences of South Asian parents who have a child with autism

Abstract

This paper sought to investigate the experiences of South Asian parents living in the UK who have a child with autism. This had been identified as an under-represented cultural group by previous research in the field (Ravindran & Myers, 2012). Key ideas from sociocultural theory and intersectionality underpin the paper which is based on a study that aimed to explore how culture influenced parents’ construction and experience of their child’s autism.In-depth interviews were carried out with nine parents and the data was analysed using the Corbin and Strauss (2008) grounded theory model. The main finding was that parents’ construction of autism privileged ‘medical model perspectives’ and this was largely underpinned by cultural values and beliefs. This is turn had a significant impact on how they responded to their child’s autism label and how they worked with professionals. This paper reflects on how Educational Psychologists can use these insights to better support and understand the needs of South Asian families who have a child with autism.