Studyspark Study Document

Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Paper

Pages:7 (2023 words)

Sources:12

Subject:Health

Topic:Autism

Document Type:Research Paper

Document:#27788997


Childcare Patterns and Issues for Families of Preschool Children with Autism

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are the most rapidly growing student population served in special education. As a result, several early childhood programs targeting such students have been established in the education sector. These programs are established to help meet the special needs of these children while promoting and enhancing their academic growth and achievements. In addition, family members play a critical role in the development and growth of these children with respect to meeting their special needs. Mereiou, Bland & Niemeyer (2015) state that the increase in diagnosis of ASD among children has made families and policymakers to champion for initiatives that enhance knowledge and understanding of their needs. Understanding these needs is essential toward improving the effectiveness of interventions and related services. Additionally, understanding the needs of these children help families to adopt suitable childcare patterns and deal with emerging issues effectively.

Background Information

ASD diagnosis among children has increased significantly in recent years and generated new demands on families and special needs educators. ASD account for the highest population of special needs students in the education sector. According to Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau (2014) recent evidence has shown that diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children has become more prevalent. This condition is characterized by difficulties in social communication and behavior as well as impaired child and family functioning. Consequently, children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders need intensive educational, healthcare, and behavioral services in comparison to normal children. These intensive services are in turn characterized by substantial financial, time, and care coordination investments. Families of children with autism spectrum disorders deal with issues relating to the condition and face the need to utilize childcare patterns that meet the children’s needs. Some of the major issues faced by families of children with ASD include adverse family employment and financial stressors (Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau, 2014). These issues are primarily attributable to the complexities associated with providing care for these children given their special needs. 

Since ASD diagnosis in children has become more prevalent, stakeholders within the education sector have become increasingly concerned. The prevalence of ASD diagnosis has resulted in the development of early childhood programs that seek to meet the needs of these children. These programs also seek to promote the growth and development of these children in academics, behaviorally and socially. Early childhood programs are considered critical toward enhancing the outcomes of these children. However, services for these children are limited, which has resulted in calls for their inclusion in these programs during pre-school years. It is assumed that inclusion of these children during pre-school years would help enhance their social and language behaviors. In addition, families of children with ASD need to skills on suitable childcare practices and how to deal with issues relating to the condition. Current childcare patterns for these families are characterized by numerous difficulties resulting in poor health-related quality of life, family burden, poorer psychological wellbeing, financial stress, under/unemployment, and poorer physical and mental health (Zuckerman, Lindly, Bethell & Kuhlthau, 2014).

Research Context

As evident in the background information, families of children with autism face challenges relating to childcare patterns and issues brought by complexities of the condition. This comes at a time when there are minimal inclusive programs to promote inclusion of these children during pre-school years despite the potential benefits of such inclusion on their growth and development (Stahmer, Akshoomoff & Cunningham, 2011). Stein, Foran & Cermak (2011) contend that parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder can be a complex experience for parents. This is primarily because child diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders is a life-altering event to many parents. According to the findings of recent studies, families have reported experiences of sadness, denial, despair, anger, and confusion when their child is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (Stein, Foran & Cermak, 2011). These experiences are attributable to the impact of the condition on a child’s functioning and social communication and…

Some parts of this document are missing

Click here to view full document

…entails the study of a population through observation of members (Jansen, 2010). In this case, the study will be carried out among families of preschool children with ASD to understand their experiences, childcare patterns, and issues. Qualitative survey research is based on ethnography, which is the study of the behaviors, perceptions, and interactions that take place within organizations, teams, communities, and groups (Reeves, Kuper & Hodges, 2008). Ethnography, which is rooted in anthropology, focuses on providing rich, holistic insights in the views and actions of people relating to the issue under investigation. In this case, the views and experiences of families of preschool children with ASD will provide rich, holistic insights on this issue, help in answering the research questions, and address the gap in existing literature. 

For data collection, the researcher will conduct observations and interviews on a group of families of children with autism spectrum disorders. Since this study is based on ethnography, observations and interviews are suitable data collection instruments that help obtain rich data from participants (Reeves, Peller, Goldman & Kitto, 2013). The use of families of children with ASD as participants in this research is geared toward generating rich data. Ponto (2015) states that observations and interviews help to generate rich from individuals or groups when conducting qualitative survey research.

This study will be carried out in Strathclyde, which has been identified as an ideal location. Strathclyde is considered suitable for the study since it has different educational institutes for children with autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, the researcher will easily identify relevant research groups in this area for the study. In addition, the researcher has selected this location because of his experience working as teacher in an autism institute for children. The researcher seeks to utilize his experience as a teacher in an autism institute for children to collect and analyze data for the study. Through this experience, the researcher will formulate relevant open-ended questions for the interviews, which will help yield rich data from the study’s participants.

References

Coogle,…


Sample Source(s) Used

References

Coogle, C.G., Guerette, A.R. & Hanline, M.F 2013. Early Intervention Experiences of Families with an Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Pilot Study. Early Childhood Research & Practice, vol. 15, no. 1. Viewed 7 August 2019, http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v15n1/coogle.html

Forest, E.J., Horner, R.H., Lewis-Palmer, T. & Todd, A.W 2004. Transitions for Young Children with Autism from Preschool to Kindergarten. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, vol. 6, no. 2, pp.103-112.

Jansen, H 2010. The Logic of Qualitative Survey Research and its Position in the Field of Social Research Methods. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, vol. 11, no. 2, pp.1-21.

Ponto, J 2015. Understanding and Evaluating Survey Research. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, vol. 6, no. 2, pp.168-171.

Reeves, S., Kuper, A. & Hodges, B.D 2008. Qualitative Research Methodologies: Ethnography. BMJ, vol. 337. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a1020

Reeves, S., Peller, J., Goldman, J. & Kitto, S 2013. Ethnography in Qualitative Educational Research: AMEE Guide No. 80. Medical Teacher, vol. 35, no. 8, pp.e1365-e1379.

Stahmer, A.C., Akshoomoff, N. & Cunningham, A.B 2011. Inclusion for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 625-641. 

Stahmer, A.C., Collings, N.M. & Palinkas, L.A 2005. Early Intervention Practices for Children with Autism: Descriptions from Community Providers. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, vol. 20, no. 2, pp.66-79.

Cite this Document

Join thousands of other students and "spark your studies."

Sign Up for FREE
Related Documents

Studyspark Study Document

Autistic Spectrum Disorders and the Family Unit

Pages: 15 (4350 words) Subject: Disease Document: #16905649

Autistic Spectrum Disorders and the Family Unit Autistic Spectrum Disorders are a group of related disorders or developmental disabilities that have been caused by some sort of problem within the brain. The necessity to understand the reasons for autism and the basic underlying pathophysiology has become more severe because the amount of diagnosed cases has increased dramatically in recent years. (White, 2003) Researchers and scientists have not been able to discover,

Studyspark Study Document

Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Keys

Pages: 10 (2870 words) Sources: 4 Subject: Disease Document: #15687919

As noted in the located research, "individuals with autism may have an IQ at any level. By convention, if an individual with autism has an IQ in the normal range (or above), they are said to have 'high-functioning autism' (HFA)." (Baron-Cohen, 1) For a parent with a young child who exhibits signs of true intelligence or even of prominent and unique talents, the understanding of autism as a disorder

Studyspark Study Document

Autism Spectrum Disorders Wang, K,

Pages: 3 (1243 words) Sources: 3 Subject: Disease Document: #81179913

Identifying Autism Loci and Genes by Tracing Recent Shared Ancestry. Science 321(5886): 218-23. Introduction This article begins with a discussion of autism spectrum disorders and the social and mental impairments that typify the disorder, setting up an approach that is inherently humanistic and person-centered. Despite the highly technical and quantified nature of the ultimate research question and data collected and analyzed in this study, this person-centered focus and tone is observable

Studyspark Study Document

Autism Spectrum Disorder Is a

Pages: 6 (1594 words) Sources: 3 Subject: Teaching Document: #65502409

According to Bock & Goode (2003), the plasticity of the brain during early childhood allows for the best outcomes when treating the disorder. Because autism is a spectrum disorder some children benefit more from the aforementioned interventions than others. However regardless of the severity of the disorder all children seem to benefit from early diagnosis and early treatment (pg, 254). Conclusion The purpose of this discussion was to compare and contrast

Studyspark Study Document

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Pages: 3 (1125 words) Sources: 3 Subject: Children Document: #8315679

Kogan et al. (2009) report that the increasing prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) makes the identification of these disorders a public health priority. Many of the studies of the prevalence of ASD are taken from clinical data; the researchers believe that this data inaccurate. The researchers review all of the current research used to determine the prevalence of ASD and point out several flaws in each of these

Studyspark Study Document

Autism Spectrum Disorders ASD

Pages: 2 (881 words) Sources: 3 Subject: Health Document: #73259844

What Is Autism?
Autism, also referred to as autism spectrum disorder, is a disorder that takes into account a variety of conditions signified by challenges with social abilities, repetitive manners, speech and nonverbal communication, in addition to distinctive strengths and differences (Autism Speaks, 2018). Delineated by a set of behaviors, autism impacts persons in dissimilar ways and to varying magnitudes. There is no acknowledged sole cause of autism, but increased

Join thousands of other students and

"spark your studies".