Statement of the Research Problem
This study sought to give voice to parents of very young children with autism.
The first three years from diagnosis to autism services represents a time when family
experiences are largely unexamined. This is an important research problem to address for
several reasons. First the literature indicates a two-year lag time between when parents of
children with autism first notice concerns over their child’s development and initiation of
services. Lived experiences during this lag time are absent from the literature. However,
rich descriptions of these experiences may add insight ichildren with autism and their families. Secondly,
hearing from parents in their own
words about their lived-experiences during this time may inform services and also
advocacy efforts. Thirdly, the participants’ experiences have the potential to touch the
lives of other families and those who work with them, countering the effects of isolation
and discouragement. The remainder of this section focuses on the gaps in qualitative
research in this area and explains the research problem in greater detail.
Phenomenological investigation was appropriate to illustrate a deeper meaning of
parenting a very young child with autism and the role of EI in family life. As a
methodological approach, phenomenology allows for examination of parental lived
experiences associated with many ecological influences (e.g., family culture, personal
history and societal views of autism). There is growing interest in qualitative
investigation in the field of autism (Bolte, 2014; Cridland et al., 2014). There is also an
increasing acknowledgement of a need for multiple research methodologies in special
education (Odom, Brantlinger, Gersten, Horner, Thompson, & Harris (2005).
I found no phenomenological investigation of caregiving an infant / toddler with
autism in the research literature. There is also a dearth of qualitative investigation of
experiences parenting an infant or toddler with autism and receiving EI. There is a need
to address these gaps. Extending qualitative research to gain insight into parents’ lived experiences during the EI process may shed light on this unique parenting context. This
aim is particularly important in the field of EI because the most effective interventions for
infants and toddlers with other disabilities involve parents acting as equal partners in
intervention. A strong collaborative relationship between parent and provider is a prerequisite for
effective treatments, delivered in the natural family environments (DEC,
2014; Dunst & Trivette, 1994; Dunst & Trivette, 2009; IDEA, 2004; Keilty, 2010).
Autism intervention has a tradition of child-focused, clinician-implemented, specialized,
and intensive intervention practices (National Research Council [NRC], 2001).
The marginal role of qualitative investigation found in the AUT-EI literature may
have implications for the quality of life for parents, their child with autism, and other
family members (Reed & Osborne, 2014). Investigations into parental lived experiences
may illuminate effects of early autism and EI services on parenting in a way in which
quantitative investigations cannot. An understanding of what parenting an infant with
autism means and what experiences with EI means, would be difficult to capture in
quantitative investigation. Phenomenological research may provide nuanced insight into
the effects of emergent autism, the emotional impacts on family, and the joys and
hardships.
In the field of EI for all infants and toddlers, child outcomes are associated with
the role parents play in their children’s treatment (Ketelaar, Vermeek & Hart, 1998;
Skonkoff & Hauser-Cram, 1987). In these other EI populations, links between familycentered practices
and later outcomes included child development scores (Mahoney,
Boyce, Fewell, Spiker, & Wheed, 1998), parental sense of efficacy, and effectiveness in
implementing interventions (Peterson, Luze, Eshbaugh, Jeon & Ross-Kanz, 2007;
Trivette, Dunst & Hamby, 2010).
Generally, this research study aimed to determine the techniques of selected small-scale autism person.
Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:
1. How may the profile of the respondents be described in terms of:
1.1 Age:
1.2 Gender:
1.3 Strand:
2. What are the significant things to consider when self-studying to improve cognitive development?
3. What are the best recommendations for self-study?