Coping strategies of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders
Coping strategies of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders

Summary/Abstract: The presented scholarly study deals with the coping strategies of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and has as its aim to determine and describe the ways parents of children with ASD cope with their child’s disability. In this context, the authors were interested (and in this sense also formulated the research questions) to know which stress management strategies parents choose most often and who helps parents in selecting coping strategies and potential additional support. The main method used in the research was an interview, as well as data analysis using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Upon analysing the data, the authors found that in each monitored case, certain individual phenomena appeared that were typical only for the given case, e.g., the absence of professional help, a lack of help options, splitting up with a partner, changes in emotional experience, depressive symptoms with suicidal thoughts, services of a fortune-teller, death of a spouse. During the author’s empirical work, authors recorded several coping strategies that were focused primarily on emotions (a change of internal setting, focusing on the present, hope for a better future, gratitude for small things, positive mind, detachment from feelings, pragmatic attitude), on the problem (the effort to be at home as much as possible) and on escape (sporting activities, meeting friends, wellness, walks in nature, reading books, studying, a cosmetics course).

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