PERCEPTIONS, MEANINGS AND PRACTICES OF MOTHERS OF CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM

Abstract

This was a qualitative study in which semistructured interviews were used to collect data.  The mothers of autistic children with milder symptoms tend to be more optimistic and emphasize the positive aspects of their children, whereas mothers of children with more severe symptoms talked of the particularly disabling symptoms of their child. With respect to the cause of the problem, the mothers’ reference to organic reasons is a recurrent feature of the interviews. No explanatory model of autism other than that derived from biomedical knowledge was provided in this study. The limitations imposed by autistic children on the lives of their mothers were part of all the narratives, most particularly those of the mothers of children with more severe symptoms. Social support and the identification of a network with which to share experiences and the suffering of their children appear to minimize the effects of isolation in these mothers.