Stress Impact an Autistic Child

¶ … stress impact an autistic child has on his or her family. The writer examines stressors that are indigenous to families with autistic children and explores avenues of resolving or relieving the stress. There were eight sources used to complete this paper.

REDUCING STRESS IN FAMILIES WITH AN AUTISTIC CHILD

Autism is one of the most shocking and unfair diagnosis's that a family can face. Every parent worries during pregnancy whether the baby will be healthy or have health problems. Once the baby is born and by all intent appears to be perfectly healthy the parents' attention turns to milestones and they begin to compare their baby's firsts with what the books say is the appropriate age for them to do so. The first time they pick up a rattle, hold their own bottle, take their first step or speak their first word parents race to the books t compare their baby with the average baby in the world. Usually by the time the baby reaches that first birthday the parents have relaxed, realized that their child will be just fine and they settle into watching him develop. That is when it hits. The child may stop speaking, or maybe he suddenly cannot handle being touched, or sometimes both things occur together. Parents puzzle over their child's sudden reduction in progress and begin looking for answers (Harris, 1994). After several doctor visits, development specialists and others the parents hear the diagnosis. Autism. Just when they thought everything was fine their world is turned upside down and their stress is just beginning. For the next few years they learn that autism creates stress within the family in ways they never before dreamed possible. The child can have moods that defy all logic. Well meaning family members try and tell the parents how to handle the child, or they don't believe in autism and believe the child is just stubborn and tell the parents to discipline it out of him. School functions, social events and other elements of life that most people take in stride produce severe stress for the family of an autistic child. This project will examine the stress of families dealing with an autistic child and some of the things that are being done to help reduce it.

In reducing the stress that the family deals with the environment for the autistic child will be improved which will in turn benefit that child.

INTRODUCTION

Autism can be a devastating diagnosis for parents who often spend months trying to get to the bottom of what is happening with their once vibrant, developing toddler. Once the diagnosis process is complete the parents are left with trying to care for the child who can be trying at best and the family is often thrown into a very stressful environment as family members work to maintain a sense of normalcy while coping with the elements of autism (Moes, 1995). One of the more draining aspects of having a child in the family with autism is the stress that it can create. Stress has long since been known to create health issues, cause divorce and create family and relationship disharmony in ways that are sometimes irreparable. It is important to understand exactly how having a child with autism impacts the family by the stress that it causes. It is by that understanding that future programs can be developed to help alleviate the stress.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Autism was first identified as a pervasive developmental disorder in 1943 by a man named Leo Kanne (Pargament, 2001)r. At that time he described the disorder as creating impairments in social interaction as well as communication ability. Classic symptoms of the disorder include repetitive physical behaviors, interests or activities along with regression in communication attempts and the withdrawal of the desire to be physically close to other people (Pargament, 2001).

The incidence of the disorder is between four and 10 for every 10,000 births. Research indicates that 75% of children with autism are also mentally retarded, which creates a doubly difficult problem to work with (Pargament, 2001).

Several past studies have indicated that families who have a child with a disability suffer from more stress and distress than families with children who are not disabled do.

While studies also indicate that families come to accept the stress of having a disabled child as mutually beneficial because of the things that they learn about themselves and the world in having a disabled child, the fact remains that the stress is there and it has been medically proven that stress can have a negative impact on the health and mental well being of the individuals (Pargament, 2001).

One study examined the impact that spiritual or religious faith had on families with autistic children. In this study 49 families of autistic children were examined for signs of stress either psychologically, emotionally or health wise. The study looked at participants who had autistic children between the ages of 4 and 20 years old. The study concluded that parents who have a strong religious or spiritual faith and support from religious groups showed a stress level that was no higher than families that do not have an autistic child (Pargament, 2001). The study attributed part of this contentment to the belief by parents that a higher power placed the autistic child in their life for a reason and he or she was one of God's gifts designed for that family. In addition, the support socially and emotionally that the parents derived from religious belonging helped the parents feel less alone as they dealt with the day-to-day elements of having a child with autism (Haworth, 1996).

Another study discovered that effective and consistent management of an autistic child's behavior toward a sibling helps to reduce the family's overall stress level significantly.

The study used interviews with families that had an autistic sibling and an autistic child. In the interview family members were asked to openly discuss the behavior of the autistic child toward siblings and the reactions of the sibling and the other family members when this occurred (Singer, 2001).

Families were encouraged to discuss arguments and aggressive actions between siblings regardless of how they had been handled and who the parents believed the primary aggressor was.

The study found that parents who received a measure of parental training in how to handle such relationships between their children were more successful at both managing the problem behavior and reducing the overall family stress formerly caused by the autistic child and sibling problems.