“We go through trauma”: South Asian parents’ experiences of autism diagnosis and early supports for their autistic children in Australia

Introduction

Growth of the Australian South Asian migrant community has surged over the last decade. Yet we have minimal information about migrant South Asian parents’ experiences of raising an autistic child in Australia. This participatory research informs the issue through reporting first-hand accounts of accessing an autism diagnosis and receiving early supports for South Asian parents and their autistic children living in Australia.

Methods

Parents from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (n = 13) were interviewed in their preferred language. During interviews, parents were asked about their experiences of the diagnostic process and navigating early supports for their autistic child. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Parents described experiencing myriad challenges to accessing early autism supports, including limited knowledge, funding issues, lengthy waiting lists, and poor-quality clinicians. They also reported struggling to accept their child’s diagnoses and facing judgement from within their community. Unlike other migrant Australian communities, this group of parents did not describe obtaining community-specific supports and often navigated their journeys alone. These cumulative challenges impacted parents’ mental health. Yet, parents also described proactively seeking as much support as possible, preferring goal-based, intensive, behavioural early interventions.

Discussion and implications

Clinicians should be aware that families from particular migrant/cultural minority groups may be more isolated than others, and consider how best to support a sense of community belonging in other ways. That these parents expressed preference for intensive, behavioural autism supports also highlights the diversity of service-related views and desires in the autistic and autism communities.