Parent experiences of school distress or school refusal in their autistic child

Abstract

Aims:School distress or school refusal is the most common reason autistic children miss school. Qualitative investigation of school distress and school refusal in autistic children is limited in the literature. This study aimed to identify school refusal behaviours in autistic children and explore parent experiences supporting their children.Method:Fifteen parents of school-aged autistic children completed semi-structured interviews. Directed content analysis was used to identify school refusal behaviours and inductive content analysis to explore impact on family systems.Findings:Parents reported a range of school refusal behaviours, many of which occurred before school or outside of school settings on days when their child attends school. This may mean many indicators of school refusal are missed by school attendance or behaviour data.Limitations:All participants were Australian and responded to an advertisement about autism and school refusal so had previously identified school refusal behaviours in their child.Conclusion:School refusal impacts upon the child, their attendance and their outcomes, but also upon family systems and supports. Implications of these findings for supporting autistic children, schools, and families are discussed.