Running head: PARENTS RAISING
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Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and Emotional Consequences
Introduction to Research and Evaluation in Education - EIPT 5033
University of Oklahoma
by
Abrar Hilal
Master of Applied Behavior Analysis
Instructor: Dr. Patricia L. Hardré
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Abstract
The lifelong nature of autism in a child causes many challenges and emotional
consequences for parents and siblings; in particular, for those with specific socio-demographic
characteristics. The aim of this qualitative research is to create a proposal, which will guide
research on the challenges and emotional consequences that parents of children with autism face.
In this study, a qualitative phenomenological-hermeneutic approach will be applied in conducting
interviews and observations on these parents and their families based in Cleveland, Oklahoma. In
this case, 75 parents will participate in an interactive interview while the researcher will interact
with the families of 15 autistic children in order to observe their practices and what the parents go
through on a daily basis. After the data is collected, the qualitative approach will further be applied
in presenting this data through an arrangement based on a set of identified themes. This data will
then be critically analyzed to come up with an understanding of the challenges and emotional
consequences that these parents with autistic children go through based on various underlying
factors.
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Introduction
Autism is a developmental disorder that impairs a child's ability for social interaction,
communication, and behavior and it becomes visible in the first three years (Moradi,
Khundrakpam, Lewis, Evans, & Tohka, 2016). Autism not only causes struggle and difficulties in
a child, but also causes many challenges and emotional consequences for their parents and siblings.
Families with specific socio-demographic characteristics suffer the most. Parents raising children
with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face higher levels of stress than parents raising children
without ASD. One of the studies mentioned that "Parents face extreme difficulties in dealing with
challenging behaviors, teaching their child to communicate, teaching basic life skills, guarding
their child against danger, and preparing their child for adult life" (Bashir, Bashir, Lone, & Ahmad,
2014). However, a study also found that many families have resilience and positive attitudes while
raising children with ASD because these family learn to adapt and deal with major stresses of their
lives (Patterson, 1988).
Many families experience fear, concern, and grief when they come to know about their
child having ASD. Eventually, families start to do the best to adapt throughout their children’s
development (Karst & Hecke, 2012). However, one study found that when parental stress
increases, both father's and mother’s resilience decreases. The study found that parental resilience
is correlated with family resilience, even after taking into account how stressed the parents feel
(Cripe, 2013). While some parents who have children with autism cope well with the additional
challenges that autism brings, still their stress level is different from families who have children
with disabilities. Nevertheless, both of the conditions can be devastating on the parents. To identify
the distinct stressing points of the parents with autistic children, this study investigates the
following questions: what are the challenges and emotional consequences encountered by the
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families who have a child with autism and how can we attempt to find ways to reduce those
challenges?
Research Purpose
The purpose of this research paper is developing a research proposal that will utilize
interviews to evaluate the challenges that parents undergo while raising a child with autism,
particularly during the child’s young life, as well as the emotional consequences that they have to
face. As a result, this will lead to the development of a conclusive paper that will create an insight
on these challenges and the beliefs, social experiences, and practices that these parents adapt
towards raising the children with autism.
Research Questions
In order to understand what the parents of children with autism undergo in the childrearing
process, this paper will make use of a number of questions that will guide the feedback that the
parents give to the researcher. However, these questions will be based on various underlying issues
that prevail in family settings and will give the parents the flexibility and freedom to narrate their
personal and family experiences. For this purpose, most of the research questions will be openended so as not to limit the scope of the feedback that the parents give. Moreover, the study is
intended to have parents narrate their specific experiences, which might be distinct, even between
parents of the same child. Additionally, a few open-ended questions will be utilized so as to shape
the direction of the study and obtain basic and crucial details. The following set of statements and
questions will thus be utilized:
1. Please tell me about yourself, your name, age, and educational level.
2. What is your family income?
3. How many of your children have autism?
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4. Please give me the details of your child, including age.
5. When did you realize that your child has autism?
6. What was your reaction upon discovering that your child has autism?
7. What knowledge did you possess before the child was born regarding autism?
8. How do you rear your child, particularly since he or she is different from other children?
9. How do the other members of the family contribute to the childrearing?
10. Which challenges have you faced while rearing this child?
11. Are there long-term and short-term challenges?
12. Has this case been experienced by other members of your family?
13. What experience have you gained while bringing up your child?
14. How can you narrate your relationship between you, your child with autism, and other
members of the family?
Through the use of these questions, the researcher will gain an understanding of how the
parents learned of autism and how they handled the scenario. By giving the parents the flexibility
to choose what they wish to share, the researcher intends to obtain a step-by-step narration that
will help in understanding how the parents learned to rear their children with autism, if they
encountered any difficulties, and, if so, how the parents will ultimately narrate those difficulties.
Additionally, the researcher will have the opportunity to learn if the parents sought outside help,
both financial and emotional, and the level of support that was accorded to them, both at the family
level and from outside. However, the researcher is not bound only to these questions. Notably,
these questions are open, unlike the open-ended survey questions used in quantitative research. As
such, the parents may fail to give sufficient data as expected by the researcher, to which the
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researcher will consider other follow-up questions of a more inquisitive nature not necessarily
stated herein.
Research Methods
Design
This study will apply a qualitative phenomenological-hermeneutic approach based on the
Lindseth & Norberg (2004) model in both the research design and the analysis of the collected
data. In this regard, interviews will be conducted on the selected sample, while observations will
also be made on some of the participants so as to come up with data regarding the challenges that
parents with autistic children face and the emotional distresses that might exist. Based on the
interview questions, and with most of them being open-ended, it is expected that each session
would take the parent a total of 1-3 hours. However, the observations will be different, as they will
need more time and dedication. In this case, the observation phase is expected to take place for a
period of three weeks, and it will be carried out at the homes of these children. Since the children
are expected to be attending school, the observation phase will then be conducted on non-school
days and after school.
Sample Selection
A total of 75 parents of school-going children with autism will participate in this study. 75
children will be selected from a total of 10 schools in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. This county
is known for its highly diversified cultures, which will give the researcher an opportunity to cover
various socioeconomic cultures during the study. In return, this will not only create a unified and
all-inclusive study but will also help in understanding the disparities that exist between the
different groups of people. Of the 75 parents, a total of fifteen will also be randomly selected to
take place in the observation phase, which will be expected to last for a total of 3 weeks for each
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parent. Due to the high demand that is accompanied by this research, and particularly the
observation phase, the study is expected to take a total of two years. Prior to visiting the schools,
however, the researcher will seek consent from both the school and a local healthcare authority.
This will equip the researcher with consent and ethics forms that will be presented to the parents
as a show of trust and confidentiality of the study. Moreover, this will also be necessary for creating
trust and confidence among the parents through a guarantee of confidentiality, as well as creating
credibility of the research.
After randomly selecting the schools, the researcher will explain the purpose of the study
to the school heads and seek permission to interact with the parents of the children. At the same
time, the researcher will request guidance from the school authorities in identifying children with
autism and their residences. This will enable the researcher to generate a scatter map for these
parents and thus have a clear and time-saving procedure to access them. The researcher will first
need to contact the parents through phone calls so as to seek their participation in the study as well
as setting up a date and time for the interview. First, the researcher will identify herself to parents
and explain the purpose of their study and the benefits that it could create to the healthcare sector
as well as to other stakeholders. The researcher will then request the parents to participate in an
interview that should take a duration of 1-3 hours.
Upon acceptance, the researcher will further inquire of the parent whether they would be
willing to have the researcher observe them and their family practices for a period of three weeks.
Moreover, the number of parents who will take part in the observation phase will be limited to
fifteen separate families. However, every parent will be interviewed independently, even if they
are in one of these fifteen families.
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Exclusion Criteria
There are factors that the researcher will apply in choosing the sample. First, the selected
children should be living with their parents and not in nursing and primary care institutions. In this
case, the child should have one or both parents. Additionally, they should be under the age of 12
years. The children will be selected in a way that both genders are included. The 12-year margin
has been set so as to create an environment where the parents are most interactive with the autistic
children. This conclusion was reached based on Harstad, Huntington, Bacic & Barbaresi (2013)
findings that indicated a high likelihood of developmental improvement and independence beyond
this age.
Study Site
The study will take place at different regions selected randomly within Cleveland County,
Oklahoma. This county was chosen as an ideal site for this research so that relevant, reliable, and
sufficient data would be availed. Notably, this is one of the most populated counties in the state,
with a population of 269,340 as per 2013. (Lowitt, 2016). Furthermore, the county, and the state
in general have experienced a drastic rise in the number of autism cases, which means that the
relevance of this study to this region is very high. As per the Oklahoma Autism Network (2017),
the prevalence of autism, particularly among the school-going age, has risen drastically in the
recent past. This is despite the increase in the number of programs to assist parents and individuals
in settling within the society and even more so in learning institutions.
Data Collection
This will form the most intensive phase of the study. As had been stated above, this process
is expected to take a total of two years, which is due to the high demand of the observation phase
that requires thorough observation for a period of three weeks for each family. However, the
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interviews will take a relatively short period of time. In each case, however, the process of data
collection will be subject to acknowledgment from the parents of the participants. The process of
data collection phase will form the initial part of a lengthy research process that will take a
phenomenological-hermeneutic approach as suggested by (Lindseth & Norberg, 2004). According
to Lindseth & Norberg, the data collection phases shape the outcome of the analysis and
consequently the findings of the study. Notably, this technique makes use of qualitative approaches
that are then applied in the interpretation of a phenomenon. In the case of this study, the researcher
is seeking to use observation and interviews to obtain data that will be analyzed to help understand
the challenges and emotional consequences that the parents of children with autism undergo. As
had been indicated, this study will take place in two phases.
Interview
After the parents have consented to take part in the study and set up a date, the researcher
will visit the parents at the agreed-upon time. Visiting of the parents in their homes has been chosen
so as to minimize the burden of both time and expenses that would fall on the side of the parents.
Moreover, this will also create a chance to make helpful observations, particularly if the children
is present. The researcher will make a re-introduction to the parent(s) and restate the purpose of
the study. At this time, the researcher will have an opportunity to establish a rapport with the
parents and the family. As noted by Rowley (2012), taking a short time before commencing an
interview and establishing a rapport with the interviewee not only gives the interviewee and
interviewer time to settle but also reduces the nervousness that would heavily affect the process of
information sharing.
The researcher will be equipped with two sets of recorders, the consent form, a notepad,
and a pen. The recorders will be used simultaneously. The purpose of the two recording sets is to
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minimize the chances of losing data that may arise when one recorder fails. In such an instance,
the researcher may be forced to either postpone the interview or rely on manual data recording
method, which is not only time-consuming but also fails to capture every detail of the data. Using
the recording technique will necessitate close interaction between the interviewer and the
interviewee, which is necessary to boost the information exchange. However, important points will
be noted on the notepad so as to guide the areas of emphasis as the interviewer analyzes the
information of the recording. Additionally, some instances, such as observed data and non-verbal
cues, will not be captured by the recording device. As such, these will need to be noted elsewhere.
The researcher will pose the questions to the parents in sequential order, as had been indicated in
the research questions section. This arrangement will necessitate the narration of events in a
continuous way, which will also enable both the parent and the researcher to follow closely. In
addition, it will minimize the possibility of confusion and thus lead to the collection of thorough
and well-arranged data.
Other than the questions stated in this paper, this research will take more of an open and
interactive nature. In this case, the questions listed above will only form a foundation of the
research and provide the guidelines. However, how the questions are presented depends on what
arises within the study. Being open-ended questions, they will give the parents the flexibility to
give unrestricted answers but based on or related to the topic. In the same way, it is possible to
have the parent answer a particular question within another. In this case, it will not be necessary
to repeat the question. However, the researcher may need to pose follow-up inquiries not stated in
the research questions in order to clarify the information. This will often arise when the researcher
feels that the feedback is not sufficient of when there is something that needs clarification.
Moreover, unlike close-ended questions, open-ended questions within an interview have no pre-
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defined answers, and thus the questions may be subject to change depending on the interaction
between the two parties.
The questions are expected to take a duration of 1-3 hours, depending on the length of the
feedback that the parent gives. In this case, the researcher expects different feedback and different
experiences from different parents. Moreover, the parents have different backgrounds, and the
children are based on different ages.
Observations
For parents that will have acknowledged participation in the observation phase, the
researcher will spend time with the families and particularly at the times when the children are at
home. The three-week period has been chosen since it creates sufficient interaction time.
Additionally, it enables the family to adjust to the presence of a visitor in their homes and thus
give them the first few days to resume their normal practices, even with the presence of the visitor.
In this case, the observation data is expected to take a normal course after an average of three days.
The researcher will observe the daily routines of these parents, their families, and their
autism children and make recordings on a journal and a notebook. This will enable chronological
evaluation and analysis of the findings. Additionally, the researcher will interact with the families
so as to ensure that they easily adapt to their presence.
Data Presentation and Analysis
In the phenomenological-hermeneutic model by Lindseth & Norberg (2004), the analysis
phase involves a simple evaluation of the data so as to present ideas in a thematic manner. In this
way, the identified themes will form the basis of evaluating the cross-sectional data and
development of a unified set of observed behavior. As a result, the researcher will easily identify
the challenges that the parents face as well as the emotional distress that may accompany the
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upbringing of autistic children. The thematic arrangement of this information will also enable the
researcher to put into consideration the various other factors that may influence the challenges and
emotional consequences faced by these parents, such as the socioeconomic level, presence of both
parents, outside support, the number of children who have autism, and others.
Conclusion
As per recent data, autism has risen to become one of the most prevalent health issues in
Cleveland, Oklahoma, particularly amongst the school-going children. However, there is a lack of
clear understanding as to what the parents of these children go through in bringing up these
children. Despite there being knowledge on the presence of parental challenges, existing studies
fail to account for the various socio-demographic attributes and how they shape the experiences of
these parents. However, through a well-structured qualitative approach, this study will necessitate
the collection and analysis of data, which will result in the creation of an informed report that not
only states the various experiences of these parents but also analyzes them based on the
background of the families.
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References
Bashir, A., Bashir, U., Lone, A., & Ahmad, Z. (2014). Challenges faced by families of autistic
children. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Innovations, 64-68.
Cripe, C. T. (2013, October 10). Family resilience, parental resilience and stress mediation in
families with autistic children. Retrieved from ProQuest:
http://gradworks.umi.com/35/75/3575496.html
Harstad, E., Huntington, N., Bacic, J., & Barbaresi, W. (2013). Disparity of care for children
with parent-reported autism spectrum disorders. Academic Pediatrics, 13(4), 334-339.
Karst, J. S., & Hecke, A. V. (2012). Parent and family impact of autism spectrum disorders: A
review and proposed model for intervention evaluation. Clinical Child and Family
Psychology Review, 15(3), 247-277.
Lindseth, A., & Norberg, A. (2004). A phenomenological hermeneutical method for researching
lived experience. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 18(2), 145-153.
Lowitt, R. (2016). Twentieth-century Oklahoma: Reflections on the forty-sixth state. Norman,
OK : University of Oklahoma Press
Moradi, E., Khundrakpam, B., Lewis, J., Evans, A., & Tohka, J. (2016). Predicting symptom
severity in autism spectrum disorder based on cortical thickness measures in
agglomerative data. NeuroImage, 144, 128–141.
Oklahoma Autism Network (2017). State’s Autism Information and Referral: Lifespan Support.
Oklahoma Autism Network: OK. Available from
http://okautism.org/InformationReferral/LifeSpanSupports.aspx
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Patterson, J. M. (1988). Families experiencing stress: I. The family adjustment and adaptation
response model: II. Applying the FAAR Model to health-related issues for intervention
and research. Family Systems Medicine, 6(2), 202-237.
Rowley, J. (March 23, 2012). Conducting research interviews. Management Research
Review, 35, 260-271.
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The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
Emotional Consequences
Introduction to Research and Evaluation in Education - EIPT 5033
University of Oklahoma
by
Abrar Hilal
Master of Applied Behavior Analysis
Instructor: Dr. Patricia L. Hardré
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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Abstract
The lifelong nature of autism in a child causes many challenges and emotional consequences for
parents and siblings, in particular, those with specific socio-demographic characteristics. The aim
of this study is to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of parents raising a child with
autism in the Cleveland county population and then explore the challenges and emotional
consequences faced. The research will be a case study focusing on a number of parents’ beliefs
toward autism and emotional matrix for children with autism. The research will be quantitative
in nature to measure the psychological dimensions of the parents of autistic children by using
questionnaire. It will employ questionnaire for the purpose of providing an adequate level of
comfort for the parents to feel confident and relaxed to reveal their emotions without any
embarrassment when they answer the questions. Using a questionnaire will enrich the data
concerning numbers of the challenges parents face on a daily basis with their children with
autism. I will be interviewing 75 parents of children with autism. Research findings will be
analyzed using thematic network analysis and emotional matrix. Finally, the results will be
discussed and interpreted in terms of previous research and relevant theories.
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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The purpose of the study
The purpose of this research that measure the difficulties and the challenges faced by parents in
raise a child with autism in the childhood period to gain an insight of the adaptations and beliefs
of parents toward autism, their family, and social experience, health, and educational services.
Research Questions
This proposed study will seek to answer this central research question:
How many parents who are facing difficulties and challenges in raising children with autism in the
childhood?
In addition, the following guiding questions have been formulated in order to guide the data
collection process.
(a) How many hours you take care of your child with autism?
(b) How many families have outside help available to take care of special needs of all family
members?
(c) The relationship between the parents and their child with autism?
(d) How many challenges and emotional consequences faced parents of child with autism?
(e) Does anyone in your respective families have autism?
(f) How many difficulties do you face on a daily basis when raising your child?
(g) How do you consider your relationship between you and your child?
The first question seeks to know how many parents spend their times with their children with
autism, and these hours they spend with their children with autism enough or less. The second
question seeks to know how many autistic children who receive support and assistance from the
competent authority for the care of people with special needs. The third and fourth questions seek
to know how many parents who feel resentful towards of their children with autism, and how many
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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parents who feel happily about their children with autism. Questions five, six, and seven seek to
discover answers about the family and the relationship between them and their child, and if they
have family history with autism.
Methods
This study uses a quantitative design and applied a and a survey strategy. The survey strategy is
used to collect data about characteristics, knowledge or opinions in a population. This study
examines real-life experiences brought about by the existence of a child with autism in the
family. The study addresses one research hypothesis:
1. How many parents who are facing difficulties and challenges in raising children with
autism in the childhood?
Sample identification and selection
The questionnaire will be sent to 75 parents who have a child with autism from 10 schools at
3-month intervals for 1 years. The questionnaire will be for parents cover topics of
information about them and their child. The intended population is residents of Cleveland
county. These residents will consist of individuals of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds
and races. Participants will be asked if they are 20 or older and must be at least the age of 20
to participate in the questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of three sections that were
provided in the same order for all participants. The first section included general and
demographic information. The second section includes questions specific to the child with
autism, including their behaviors at home, live with single or both parents, and whether they
were currently or previously in a parent support group or parent advocacy group for autism.
The final section includes questions specific to the parents, include the number of hours they
spend with their children with autism, restlessness or depression that faced them during
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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raising their child with autism, their feelings about their children with autism, poverty,
violence and parental problems.
First, I will ask the school permission and the parents with a consent form. Second, I will
determine through school attendance how many students with autism attend the school.
Third, I will present the consent form and qualifications to the possible parents. I will explain
to the parents the purpose of my study that will be a quantitative study that measures the
difficulties and challenges faced by parents who have autistic children to the care of children
younger than 12 years of age.
Then I am going to look at all the files of the children who have autism with permission
from their parents who want to participate in the research to know what category they fall
under. After collecting all the information about the child with autism and their parents then I
determine if I need it in my research.
Then I will make three groups after I gather the information. The first group will be
consistent autistic children who live with both parents. The second group consists of autistic
children living with a single parent to know who has more difficulties and challenges for
raising a child with autism. The third group is consistent with parents who have multiple
children with disabilities.
Study site
I will conduct this study in one county of the Oklahoma: Cleveland. Cleveland county is home of
the state’s largest comprehensive university, the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Although
Cleveland county is the eighth smallest Oklahoma county in area, it has the third largest
population with 2 of the state’s largest cities, Norman and Moore. Farming, oil production and
horse breeding are important industries (CivicPlus, 2017).
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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Data collection
In this proposed study, the primary sources of data collection will be the questionnaire with
closed‐ended questions, and interviews (e.g., face‐to face and telephone interviews, computer
assisted personal interviewing) (Johnson & Christensen, 2016).
•
Questionnaire
I am going to use a Web‐based questionnaire in this research because it will be easy for the
participants to access it. The questionnaire will consist of three sections that will be provided in
the same order for all participants. The first section will include general and demographic
information (information about family history with autism, relationship to child, race/ethnicity,
education, income, education, county of residence, etc.) (Rhoades, Scarpa, & Salley, 2007). The
second section will include questions specific to the child with autism, including their behaviors
at home, life with single or both parents, and whether the parents are currently or previously have
been in a parent support group or parent advocacy group for autism. The final section will
include questions specific to the parents, including the number of hours parents spend with their
children with autism, restlessness or depression the parents faced during raising their child with
autism, the parents’ feelings about their children with autism, poverty, violence and parental
problems. The questionnaire will include: true/false, closed ended, and multiple choice
questions. I will start the distribution of the questionnaire to the parents in fall 2017, at the
beginning of the semester. The questionnaire will take 25 to 30 minutes to complete. Every week
I will go to one of the selected schools for my study and give the parents the questionnaire. After
10 weeks I would have finished distributing the questionnaire to all the schools. Then I will
collect the responses from the parents. After that I can analyze the data.
•
Interview
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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The interviews will consist of oral questions asked by the interviewer and oral responses by the
research participants. I want to use interviews in my research because some of the participation
don't have a computer or phone, so the interview will be the best way to record their responses.
These two methods were deemed appropriate for this study. So, I will conduct interviews face‐to
face, via telephone, and over the computer. The interviews questions will be in the same format
as the questionnaire and close-ended, so the participant will essentially answer the questionnaire
during the interview. It will take about 25 to 30 minutes. All interviews will be tape-recorded.
•
Processes
I am going to send the questionnaires to the parents and interview the parents who have a child
with autism myself. So, after I gather all the information that I want, I will make three groups.
The first group will consist of autistic children who live with both parents. The second group will
consist of autistic children living with a single parent. The third group will consist of parents
who have multiple children with disabilities. There will be 75 participants in the research, so the
data collection will take 10 weeks for all the three groups. After that, I will want to see which
group faces more difficulties and challenge in daily life raising a child with autism. The
participants’ identity will be protected because the survey will be anonymous. Also, their right to
answer or not answer the question will be protected by giving them a choice.
Data analysis and management methods
A baseline questionnaire will be administered to parents of child who have autism. Every two
weeks I will collect questionnaires from parents. The data will be analyzed by Excel Survey. It is
a web form, that can be designed to collect and store structured data into an Excel spreadsheet
file (Leahy, 2004). This allows for re-tabulation and recording, if necessary, prior to analysis.
The data will then be imported into SPSS, which will analyze all three groups at once (Hewison ,
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
7
2005). Then, I will use a statistical analysis computer program to analyze the data and make
observations. Also, I will be using questions from the F-COPES and CES-D, to assess coping
skills and depressive symptoms to the parents of the child with autism (Churchill, Villareale,
Monaghan, Sharp, & Kieckhefer, 2008).
Conclusion
Parents who have children with autism have more difficulties and challenges in their life like:
dealing with challenging behavior, dealing with judgements from others, lack of support, impact
upon the family, coping and the importance of appropriate support (Ludlow, Skelly, & Rohleder,
2011). The challenges were described as “never-ending,” which had a significant impact on the
parents’ sense of well-being and ability to cope. The researchers mentioned that the challenging
behaviors mostly included the child’s difficulty coping with changes to routine and the social
implications of their child’s behavior. Also, they mentioned that some parents feel judged as
“bad” parents or feeling like a failure and they faced difficult to deal with their child. So the
parents need more help to overcome difficulties in their life (Ludlow, Skelly, & Rohleder, 2011).
One problem in my study is that the face-to-face interviews will probably be better for the
participations than the questionnaire, but both of them have advantages and should be useful for
analysis.
The Number of Parents Raising a Child with Autism: A Study of Challenges and
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References
Churchill, S. S., Villareale, N. L., Monaghan, T. A., Sharp, V. L., & Kieckhefer, G. M. (2008).
Parents of Children with Special Health Care Needs Who have Better Coping Skills have
Fewer Depressive Symptoms. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 14(1), 47-57.
CivicPlus. (2017, February 8). Cleveland County, OK . Retrieved from Cleveland County, OK :
http://www.clevelandcountyok.com
Hewison , R. (2005). Predictors Of Tertiary Level Performance in Non-English Speaking
Background Students. The University Of Western Australia, 11.
Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. B. (2016). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and
Mixed Approaches (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Leahy, J. (2004). Using Excel for Analyzing Survey Questionnaires. Program Development &
Evaluation, 1-28.
Ludlow, A., Skelly, C., & Rohleder, P. (2011). Challenges faced by parents of children
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Health Psychology, 17(5), 702-711.
Rhoades, R., Scarpa, A., & Salley, B. (2007, November 20). The importance of physician
knowledge of autism spectrum disorder: results of a parent survey. BMC Pediatrics.
Study Designs Assignment-- EIPT 5033
Study Designs
Purpose: The purpose of these assignments is to help you gain deeper understanding of range of
issues required to conduct high quality studies, to see research and evaluation from the inside.
Summary: You will write three brief research or evaluation study proposals. one using
quantitative data and methods, a second using qualitative data and methods, and a third using
mixed data and methods. You may choose your own topic and approach, as long as it meets the
assignment specifications. You will need to: propose methods for participant recruitment or other
strategic source access, discuss instruments/measures or data collection techniques you will use,
identify data management and analysis strategies, and explain all procedures to complete the study
so that the question(s) can be addressed. Note that these are three different assignments, using
three different strategic methodologies, due on three different dates—see schedule.
Detailed Specifications:
1. Provide a cover sheet with all APA elements, including your contact information
2. Provide an abstract (≈150 words) capturing the study concisely
3. No literature review is necessary, though you will need to use sources to support your
design strategies
4. Do include citations and references (at least 5 beyond the course text) for specific
components of your design, such as sources of existing instruments and precedent for
particular methods
5. Begin the design page with the study title
6. State the purpose of the research study or evaluation project
7. State the research question or hypothesis
a. For the scope of this assignment, a single question or hypothesis is appropriate
b. Pay special attention to key terms that drive the design and data analysis
8. Describe your participant group(s) and additional data sources
a. Identification, access, recruiting
b. Selection, assignment
2 grope, single parents or both parents
9. Describe your data collection procedures
a. Instruments/protocols, administration method
b. Processes, personnel, interactions, protections
10. Describe your data analysis & management methods
a. Data organization/preparation, statistical tests/other analysis methods
b. Link data sources to questions/hypotheses
c. Explain links between data sources as appropriate
d. Data management & storage
11. State what you will know at the end of the study, and what specific results lead to that
conclusion
12. Identify any special issues or challenges presented by this study & design
a. Ethical, procedural, other
Additional Parameters:
EIPT 5033 Intro. To Research & Evaluation in Education, (OU), Hardré 2017, rev. 1/11/17
1. Be succinct but clear, only 4-6 double-spaced pages (≈1500 words), excluding cover sheet,
abstract and references, or about 10 pages for the complete document.
2. Follow APA and all other course general assignment guidelines
3. You may use the first person “I” or “we” for the study description
4. Keep it clear & succinct, each key point above in just a few sentences
5. Provide rationales—answer the “why” question—for each of your strategic decisions
6. It is critical that the elements of the study design align, that is, that all of the design
strategies are consistent with the question/hypothesis, that the analysis method fits the
data, and the conclusion/outcome claim can reasonably be asserted from the methods used
information
I want in my study design include these with the answer:
The purpose of the study
The Questions in my study design
Achieving the purpose
What we need to tell the people and what I want from them to know from my study design
What this data support this question - Finding (write in side this part) We expect some of the
key …….
(This is my quantitative method – or – qualitative method) I said this if I use any information
from my last study
What the next will I going to do (so I when I write the quantitative method with the
qualitative method then I have to write this in what the next my professor she need
something new not repeat all the information for my 2 last study design)
Why these together aptomout the quantitative and qualitative and mixed method
Nrelateve
Why its important quant before the quantitative
My quant arrange
The relationship between all of them the quantitative and qualitative and mixed method
Smaller reaeration
See the chapter for this method
EIPT 5033 Intro. To Research & Evaluation in Education, (OU), Hardré 2017, rev. 1/11/17
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