A Consideration of Ambivalence and Advocacy in Self Help: The Case of Autism

Abstract

Self-help groups contribute to social welfare by providing continuing support to their members and through proposing changes in social policy. Society also benefits from self-help groups that create community initiatives to help meet the needs of children with disabilities. In a study of 22 parental advocates involved in self-help groups for autism, it was found that participants developed ambivalence about membership when they experienced incongruence between individual and group goals. Although many members felt personally empowered as a result of membership, they expressed frustration about wanting to advocate for needed interventions and services. Disappointment resulted in ambivalence about membership and reduced participation. Participants identified the need for self-help groups to preserve a clearer group focus that would meet both therapeutic and social action needs. These findings suggest that social workers need training on how to avoid creating a situation of disempowerment while trying to promote individual and collective empowerment. Historically, parents involved in self-help groups for autism were interested in accessing information and services that could help their disabled children. Autism is one of the most common and severe developmental disorders (Chakrabarti & Fombonne, 2005). Autistic symptoms include difficulties with social interaction and communication, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior in “(1) social interaction, (2) language or (3) symbolic or imaginative