Experiences And Difficulties Of Parents In Caring Their Children With Autism Living In Malaysia

Abstract

Bringing up a child with autism is very challenging for parents. They face a lot of physical, emotional and financial challenge in their life. Different degrees of behavioral difficulties often accompanied with social skills impairment. The aim of this study was to find out the living experiences of caregivers with autistic children living in Malaysia. Qualitative study with purposive sampling method was used. This study used semi-structured, in-depth interview for data collection. There were 10 participants in this research. The thematic analysis revealed four themes which are challenges in daily lives which include problem in work flexibility, difficulties to go out and educating child at home. The other themes were emotional challenges, financial challenges and physical challenges. Majority of the parents interviewed in this study face challenge in their daily life. They also expressed that they experienced emotional challenge since the diagnosis of their children. The majority of the parents also said that they do not experience physical effect such as headache, chest pain, high blood pressure, diabetic, cholesterol and frequent get flu but they had mentioned they felt fatigue. Fortunately, in this study had found that 7 out of 10 respondents do not have financial problem.