Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is thought of as a childhood developmental disorder. However, significant costs resulting from the loss of productivity of families have long-lasting consequences. There is a lack of published research on parental perspectives of the living experience with ASD in Sri Lanka. Objectives: To identify parental perspectives on the challenges and experiences of raising a child with ASD in the Sri Lankan context. Method: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in the outpatient services of the Provincial General Hospital in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. Thirty purposefully selected parents of children having ASD participated and one-third were fathers. The sample had parents from urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Professionals, semiskilled and skilled workers were also selected. Participants represented different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Written informed consent was taken from all and ethical clearance was obtained from the Ethics Review Committees of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and Provincial General Hospital Ratnapura. The focused semi-structured interviews were conducted by a trainee speech and language therapist. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim into Microsoft Word and analysed thematically.