Social support and grand parenting in autistic children families

• Author: Elona Mano
• Position: European University of Tirana
• Pages: 193-197

ISSN 2410-3918

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

193

IIPCCL Publishing, Tirana-Albania

Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences Vol. 2 No. 1

March 2016

Social support and grand parenting in autistic children families

PhD (C.) Elona Mano

European University of Tirana

Abstract

About 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder among children

aged 8 years according to estimates from Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring

(ADDM) (Baio, 2014). Not only undiscovered cause of autism is a source of stress for parents

of autistic children, but the stress of raising a child with autism can lead to depression (Morgan,

1988, 263-280). In order to cope with this stressful situation, it is very important for parents of

autistic children to find some explanation for their child‘s developmental disorder, and even

to be supported by their family, institutions and society. Even though the pace of research has

increased dramatically in recent years, a majority of studies on families with a child with

autism collect information from the parents, but not from the other members of the family.

This study examined the involvement of grandparents of autistic children. The study is based

on a sample of 40 mothers of autistic children from Albania who completed a structured

questionnaire. It was hypothesized that mothers of autistic children who live with other

members of the family such as grandparents, perceive more social support compared to families

of autistic children that consist only by the natural parents.

Keywords: autism, child, grandparents, mothers, social support.

Introduction

Autism is a pervasive development disorder. The diagnosis of autism indicates

qualitative impairments in communication, social skills, and range of interests and

activities (Saqellari, 2011, 113). To live with an autistic child is a very demanding and

stressful situation (Tupja, 2009, 29). Caring for a child with autism can be a twenty-

four hour job throughout the child’s entire lifetime. A child with autism is a large

stressor on the family because of the ambiguity of diagnosis, the severity and duration

of the disorder, and problems with the child’s lack of adherence to social norms (Bristol,

1984, 289-310). A mother of an autistic child ( Lala 2014, 17) explains the way she felt

at the beginning:

“The next day it was the same ritual …stress, boredom, pain and tears….”

Fathers and mothers blame each-other for their child condition and sometime they

blame their child for the disorder. Mothers get depressed and do not follow their

careers anymore. Mothers of autistic children need professional help, but especially

they need their close people to help them physically and psychologically. Because of

this stressful situation some couples get divorced. In USA 4 in 5 families that have

autistic children get divorced (Kurti, 2013, 302).

ABCX-Family crisis model

Having a child with special needs does not always mean a crisis/stress in the family