Common Stressors that Parents of Children with Autism Face in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Autism is a neurological disorder that causes a number of challenging cognitive and behavioural impairments. These include delays in learning and self-sufficiency, as well as repetitive and obsessive behaviours. Children with autism are more prone to mood swings and insomnia and the disorder is often comorbid with other behavioural disorders as well. Parents of children with autism can understandably experience high levels of stress when raising their children and can often feel guilty for their child’s condition. Understanding how parents cope with disability is important for reducing stress in these family units and ensuring disabled individuals receive the support they need.

Although public services are relatively developed in the first world, Saudi Arabia is still considered to be a developing country and unfortunately, the disorder remains relatively unknown (Alqahtani, 2012). A lack of awareness means that members of society are more likely to ostracise families of autistic children, which may discourage these families from engaging in normal activities and further increasing their stress. The present research used a qualitative design to gather data from nine parents of children with autism in Saudi Arabia. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed thematically.

The analysis identified six themes, namely, a lack of social awareness about autism in society; a lack of services for children with autism; problems with sleep; a lack of professional diagnosticians; care as all-consuming and finally, the lack of support available and its importance for coping. The paper finds that parental stress is caused by a lack of professional support and social understanding although the causes and implications of parental stress in autism is a broad topic with considerable implications. As such, there remains a need for further research, particularly in countries where understanding is limited, such as in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Autism, stress, parents, children, Saudi Arabia, qualitative study