“I worry about his future!” Challenges to future planning for adult children with ASD

IF 0.9 Q3 SOCIAL WORK

Journal of Family Social Work Pub Date : 2020-01-01 DOI:10.1080/10522158.2019.1578714

C. Marsack-Topolewski, Jillian M. Graves

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引用次数: 33

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aging process for parental caregivers of adult children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be complicated and filled with worry about the unknown. This qualitative phenomenological study examined concerns and barriers of these parents that could inhibit their future planning. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 51 parents of adult children with ASD. Parents were older than age 50 years and their children were older than age 18 years. During the interview process, parents discussed future-oriented concerns related to their adult child’s care. Based on results of the content analysis from interview responses, four themes emerged from interview responses related to parents’ fears for the future, including difficulty identifying caregiving support for the future, barriers to making plans/decisions, fear of the unknown, and feeling the need to make plans and decisions now. Although many parents understood that plans for the future were needed, they often experienced difficulty in initiating the process. Some of their concerns caused stress that further inhibited their planning. To assist parents in planning, social workers need to be educated regarding parents’ unique needs to help them work through the planning, separate planning into manageable pieces, and provide support at each step of the process.

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“我担心他的未来!”成年自闭症儿童未来规划面临的挑战

自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)成年儿童的父母照顾者的衰老过程可能是复杂的，充满了对未知的担忧。本定性现象学研究考察了这些父母可能抑制其未来计划的担忧和障碍。对51名成年自闭症儿童的父母进行了一对一的访谈。父母年龄大于50岁，子女年龄大于18岁。在访谈过程中，父母讨论了与成年子女的照顾有关的面向未来的问题。根据访谈回复的内容分析结果，访谈回复中出现了四个与父母对未来的恐惧有关的主题，包括难以确定对未来的照顾支持，制定计划/决策的障碍，对未知的恐惧，以及感觉现在需要制定计划和决策。尽管许多家长明白，为未来做计划是必要的，但他们在启动这一过程时往往遇到困难。他们的一些担忧造成了压力，进一步阻碍了他们的计划。为了帮助父母制定计划，社会工作者需要了解父母的独特需求，帮助他们完成计划，将计划分成可管理的部分，并在过程的每一步提供支持。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Family Social Work SOCIAL WORK-

CiteScore

2.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Each issue of the Journal of Family Social Work contains peer reviewed research articles, conceptual and practice articles, creative works, letters to the editor, and book reviews devoted to innovative family theory and practice subjects. In celebrating social workers" tradition of working with couples and families in their life context, the Journal of Family Social Work features articles which advance the capacity of practitioners to integrate research, theory building, and practice wisdom into their services to families. It is a journal of policy, clinical practice, and research directed to the needs of social workers working with couples and families.