Introduction
A family in which parents and relatives are engaged in raising a child with autism is a unique system with special relationships, where this offspring occupies a particular place. Hence, a family is a children’s home, where they live, play, learn to comprehend the environment, practically know what kindness, attention, care, love of parents and other relatives are, responds with affection and love. The forms and processes of the child’s life, general health, and condition depend on the type and characteristics of this cell of the society (Smith & McQuade, 2021). Moreover, a family is the primary source of socialization for children with severe mental disorders. Such kids need to develop a social essence and integrate into the community system. Additionally, the most essential cognitive factors affecting the child and determining the future manifest themselves in a family.
One should note that the birth of a child with abnormalities is a surprise for any mother and father. A family in which a baby with autism is located, as a rule, experiences specific difficulties and obstacles with the contact, upbringing, and education of this child (Becerra-Culqui et al., 2018). Parents, brothers, sisters, and other relatives are often immersed in prolonged stress as they may be forced to sacrifice their interests (Smith & McQuade, 2021). Undoubtedly, such children have a great tendency to create some non-standard and unusual situations that directly or indirectly affect the structures and processes of connections and relationships between members of the whole family. Following this fact, the household’s morale or lifestyle can be subjected to pressure, anxiety, and stress (Fauziah et al., 2021). Accordingly, given these circumstances, parents are forced to seek help from qualified psychologists to combat the causes and consequences of the above aspects. The birth of a child with autism in a family is a complicated and complex phenomenon that radically changes parents’ lifestyles.
Problem Statement
Basically, autistic children are the first and often the only ones in the family. Such kids, as a rule, are immersed in the world of their own experiences, are closed, fenced off from the outside world, and do not tolerate interpersonal contacts. These “little people” seem to be presented only to themselves; they often repeat the same sounds and movements and sometimes even show strange behavior, like sharp shouts. Due to lack of experience, parents do not notice these peculiarities of a child for a long time. The third year of life is critical for “ancestors”, as the severity of a kid’s deviations becomes obvious.
Although autistic children are symbiotically dependent on their relatives, they do not respond to their presence. Children may be anxious in the absence of a mother and father, and does not show a reaction to their company. Less often than the indifferent reaction to a mother, there is a negative reaction, when children try to drive an adult away from themselves and show hostility towards her. These forms of communication with a mother can be replaced by a healthier option (Becerra-Culqui et al., 2018). While emotional reactions of autistic people are different, in most cases, it is possible to establish and develop an emotional connection between them and family.
One should say that the birth of a child with developmental disabilities always causes parents deep feelings, and some of them perceive such an event as a complete collapse of hopes. After all, everyone wants to have a healthy, smart, beautiful son or daughter; they dream of their well-being in adulthood. Even in such cases, when adults themselves suffer from a specific defect, they hope that everything will be fine with their baby, and a kid will grow up safely, go to school, college, or university and study there successfully.
A family raising a child with autism may find itself in a crisis characterized by emotional and intellectual stress. This requires noticeable changes in ideas about the world, oneself, and the prospects for further existence in a short period. Parents’ reaction manifests itself in depression and confusion before the lack of contact with a child (Fauziah et al., 2021). They experience inferiority complexes in the complete rejection of themselves in the child’s name, in anxious fears in connection with the alleged role of “bad heredity” (Smith & McQuade, 2021). This is compounded by the unfavorable comparison of a child with “normal” ones. There is tension, hidden or apparent conflict of family relations, mutual accusations of relatives.
Undoubtedly, ideas and thoughts about stress and anxiety under similar circumstances have already been discussed in several theories studying people’s personalities, manners, actions, and behavior. Such turning points contribute to the formation and development of neurotic disorders and various kinds of complications. As practice shows, family members, being in a crisis, go through certain stages from growing tension to mobilizing external and internal resources. If the actions at one step taken turn out to be unsuccessful, disorganization of the personality can occur (Rigles, 2019). Moreover, there is a typical increase in anxiety, the possibility of depression, and the condition in which feelings of helplessness and hopelessness may appear.
There is a close, inextricable link between the state of health of parents and the upbringing of a “unique child.” For example, a father and mother raising an autistic child, as mentioned earlier, may experience poor health and dissatisfaction with the environment and life. In particular, these aspects are related to the burden that adults are required to experience. Stress, anxiety, tension, lack of sleep, and malnutrition provoke severe illnesses and risks of sickness with viruses and infections in parents, which will be difficult to cure in the future.
Consequently, parents have no choice but to accept their children as they are, and a mother and father are advised to make every effort to ensure that a family does not break up. After all, both are extremely necessary for a baby, and their child will never be as close and desirable for other people. It is challenging to bring up, teach and educate any kid, but significantly these difficulties increase dramatically if a “youngster” has specific developmental abnormalities. However, it is almost always possible to help them to one degree or another in terms of correcting the existing “disadvantage.”
Support
One should consider that the organization of the life of a “difficult” child is both a pedagogical and a medical problem. Therefore, parents need to contact a pediatrician or specialists of various profiles as early as possible in order to get valuable advice and real help from them, contributing to the correction of specific ailments. Consultations of doctors should not be one-time but periodic, allowing parents to see the changes in the kid’s condition under the influence of their growth and medications (Rogers, 2021). It is really crucial to have constant communication with a specialist who knows how to work with children of different ages who have developmental disabilities to correct or compensate for defects inherent in a child. For instance, a doctor-defectologist will help determine the right direction of education and upbringing and show the most appropriate forms and work methods. This professional advice which books to read, which toys and objects to use, warn against possible mistakes, and parents will be able to implement all these recommendations by taking their initiative.
Undoubtedly, today there are many tactics and strategies to achieve the best results in the upbringing, development, training, and interaction with an autistic child in a family. Thus, for instance, a specialist can arrange help for families of children with autism through the right combination of specialized training, education programs, and support. The goal is to learn how to make the most of the skills autistic children must compensate for shortcomings. Therefore, it should be valuable for adults to learn as much as possible about autism and about the specific form that their child suffers from (Rigles, 2019). In this vein, a specialist directs parents in the right direction and supports them in the endeavors.
It is essential and useful for parents to read the popular pedagogical and medical literature and use it when difficulties arise in a baby’s upbringing and education. Mistakes and errors in the upbringing of a child with developmental disabilities in the family most often consist in excessive guardianship or, on the contrary, insufficient attention to them. In the first case, a child is too pampered, pitied, and protected from all affairs, even feasible for them. Adults themselves do everything for kids and have good intentions, making them helpless, inept, inactive. A child does not master the most specific self-service skills and does not fulfill the requirements of elders. A “little man” does not know how to behave in society, make friends and play with others. In addition, they become selfish, a “family despot” who does not want parents’ care to extend to other family members.
Parents also need to observe their attitude to a child very carefully. For example, the deprivation of attention from parents leads to a kid feeling uncomfortable in their native family. A feeling of uselessness, rejection, and loneliness arises and strengthens. Moreover, adults should consider the nature and severity of a child’s deviation because these indicators determine their abilities in general development and success in mastering certain skills and abilities (Rogers, 2021). It is also essential to take into account the age and individual characteristics of a baby.
The psychological and pedagogical support program for families with children with autism spectrum disorders should be based on the priority functions of education and communication development. The main goals of psychological and pedagogical support are to increase parents’ sensitivity to a child’s problems and reduce the emotional discomfort in connection with a baby’s illness (Rigles, 2019). As a result, it is crucial to forming good, adequate, and acceptable ideas about the child’s potential and optimize their educational capabilities.
Interpersonal relationships and the adequacy of the parents in understanding the state of their child are studied by a psychologist to form a model of an individual educational route of a family. Moreover, it is used to develop a program of early comprehensive care for a child and parents. Furthermore, the role of a family psychologist allows to create a model of interaction with particular institutions, differentiate the methods of medicine correction, psychological and pedagogical measures. According to Lichtlé et al. (2020), a vital role in the effectiveness of support for parents is played by creating various forms of group interaction between parents and other members of the society. In addition, it is necessary to actively involve parents in the medical and psychological-pedagogical process (Lichtlé et al., 2020). The complex interaction of specialists should support all stages of a child’s development.
Solution
Primarily, it is important to diagnose the family’s social status and develop a program of education and training for parents. Additionally, a professional should conduct a comprehensive diagnostic examination of children’s mental state and a thorough examination of the individual structure of disorders to determine the degree of the primary defect (Tokatly Latzer et al., 2021). The pathological syndromes and issues of the family are used to monitor children and teach parents how to interact with children with autism.
Coping Resources
After identifying a particular family’s problems, a psychologist needs to influence the lifestyle and internal communication. Correction of the internal psychological state and teaching parents how to interact and communicate with children with autism syndrome are some of the functions a professional medic can perform within a family (Lichtlé et al., 2020). Correctional and developmental activities and games can simplify the life and interaction of a family.
Creating a system of psychological, pedagogical, and social support can reduce the risk of a complete family life dedication to a child with autism. Early comprehensive support will help parents adapt to new living conditions, create adequate conditions for education and upbringing for a child’s optimal, harmonious development, and prevent secondary deviations. Additionally, the support system can minimize the possibility of deviations in the psychological health of parents, brothers, sisters, or other relatives (Tokatly Latzer et al., 2021). Moreover, such a system can optimize the development of a particular child, which to a considerable extent contributes to reducing the social and medical risk for the whole family.
Relationship Hope
Without any doubt, one must emphasize that every family experiencing similar difficulties with the upbringing of an autistic child wants to believe in the best for their kid. Parents strive with all their might and means to eradicate existing issues, overcome current and potential difficulties, trying to find optimal, practical, and effective solutions. Based on a deeper and broader understanding of the picture of the situation, specialists and professionals working with “unique children” can also develop special measures to increase hope for a bright future. These procedures, indeed, are possible only within the framework of awareness-raising and correction of services in the psychological health of the father, mother, and other close and dear people. The mission of doctors is to provide such families with protection and support, as well as a helping hand in difficult situations.
Conclusions
In conclusion, upbringing, training, development, contact, and interaction with a “difficult” child in the family are one of the most complex and responsible tasks. Undoubtedly, parents experience various worries, anxieties, and stress when they realize that their child is somewhat different from the “normal” ones. Thus, they begin to criticize themselves and see in an autistic child only signs of failures, disappointments, and failure. Indeed, it is fundamentally wrong to think about such a phenomenon because almost any “defect” can be corrected, eliminated, and eradicated with the help of modern medicine and its directions. Therefore, psychological and pedagogical support to parents of children with autism is an essential component in these situations. As a rule, physicians aim to help families by studying the factors and mechanisms that reduce the risk of the level of effective regulation, diagnosing, and correcting existing deviations in a child at the earliest stages. As a result, continuous psychological and pedagogical support for children and their families should be provided by a psychologist for the successful development of the child and family communication.
Certainly, autism is a child’s developmental disorder that persists throughout life. However, much can be achieved due to timely diagnosis and early corrective care. For example, there will be a chance to adapt the child to life in society and teach him to cope with fears and control emotions. The most important in this case is not to disguise the diagnosis as supposedly “more euphonious” and “socially acceptable” and not to run away from the problem and see all attention on the negative aspects of the diagnosis. It is vital to abandon tormenting illusions and pre-built plans for life without hesitation, accepting a child as they really are. It is recommended to act based on their interests, create an atmosphere of love and goodwill around them, and organize the world until they learn to do something independently.
References
Becerra-Culqui, T. A., Lynch, F. L., Owen-Smith, A. A., Spitzer, J., & Croen, L. A. (2018). Parental first concerns and timing of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(10), pp. 3367-3376. Web.
Fauziah, N., Hartini, N., Hendriani, W., Suminar, D. R., & Nurdibyanandaru, D. (2021). Increasing, stable, or decreasing? the dynamics of family harmony involving children with autism spectrum disorder: A qualitative research. The Family Journal. Web.
Lichtlé, J., Downes, N., Engelberg, A., & Cappe, E. (2020). The effects of parent training programs on the quality of life and stress levels of parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review of the literature. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 7(3), pp. 242-262. Web.
Rigles, B. (2019). The development of health lifestyles in families experiencing disability. Journal of Family Issues, 40(7), pp. 929-953. Web.
Rogers, S.J., Vismara, L.A., & Dawson, G. (2021). Coaching parents of young children with autism: Promoting connection, communication, and learning. Guilford Publications.
Smith, S.L. & McQuade, H.B. (2021). Exploring the health of families with a child with autism. Autism, 25(5), pp. 1203-1215. Web.
Tokatly Latzer, I., Leitner, Y., & Karnieli-Miller, O. (2021). Core experiences of parents of children with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Autism, 25(4), pp. 1047-1059. Web.