Parents’ Perspectives Towards the Diagnosis of Autism: An Italian Case Study Research

Parent Experiences of Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis: a Scoping Review

“…Findings indicate that the tone and approach employed when delivering the diagnosis of ASD is very important to parents. Caregivers report that they want professionals delivering the diagnosis to be empathetic (Finnegan et al 2014;Ho et al 2014;Jegatheesan et al 2010;Molteni and Maggiolini 2015;Nissenbaum et al 2002;Osborne and Reed 2008). Parents desire a strengthbased approach that highlights positive attributes about their child and they want to hear optimistic statements about prognosis and intervention that preserve hope (Abbott et al 2013;Crane et al 2018;Mulligan et al 2012;Nissenbaum et al 2002).…”

“…Parents desire a strengthbased approach that highlights positive attributes about their child and they want to hear optimistic statements about prognosis and intervention that preserve hope (Abbott et al 2013;Crane et al 2018;Mulligan et al 2012;Nissenbaum et al 2002). On a practical level, parents report wanting opportunity to ask questions and time to process the information provided (Abbott et al 2013;Brogan and Knussen 2003;Molteni and Maggiolini 2015). Parents appreciate and desire discussion about prognosis and what might be expected in the future (Braiden et al 2010;de Alba and Bodfish 2011;Hennel et al 2016;Ho et al 2014;Molteni and Maggiolini 2015;Osborne and Reed 2008).…”

“…On a practical level, parents report wanting opportunity to ask questions and time to process the information provided (Abbott et al 2013;Brogan and Knussen 2003;Molteni and Maggiolini 2015). Parents appreciate and desire discussion about prognosis and what might be expected in the future (Braiden et al 2010;de Alba and Bodfish 2011;Hennel et al 2016;Ho et al 2014;Molteni and Maggiolini 2015;Osborne and Reed 2008). A number of studies reported that parents perceived inadequate explanation of their child's diagnosis (Samadi et al 2012;Selimoglu et al 2013;Yi et al, 2020;Zarafshan et al 2019) whereas a few studies contained parental reports of being overwhelmed by the amount of information provided during the feedback (Abbott et al 2013;Jashar et al 2019;Renty and Roeyers 2006).…”

“…A number of studies reported that parents perceived inadequate explanation of their child's diagnosis (Samadi et al 2012;Selimoglu et al 2013;Yi et al, 2020;Zarafshan et al 2019) whereas a few studies contained parental reports of being overwhelmed by the amount of information provided during the feedback (Abbott et al 2013;Jashar et al 2019;Renty and Roeyers 2006). Several studies found that when children have been given tentative diagnoses of "probably," "suspected," and "borderline" ASD as well as "autistic traits, tendencies, or features" this leads to parental confusion and lower levels of satisfaction (Brogan and Knussen 2003;Ho et al 2014;Molteni and Maggiolini 2015;Samadi et al 2012). Some studies reported a perceived hierarchical relationship between the physician and parent impacting effectiveness of communication (Carlsson et al 2016;Ha et al 2017;Ho et al 2014).…”

Coping Strategies and Parents’ Positive Perceptions of Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Parents themselves are worthy of the best and most effective psychological support that professionals can provide to promote parents' quality of life and well-being. Research has shown that parents can obtain significant benefit from psychological support to face the challenge of caring for their child with special needs [65][66][67][68][69][70]. It is also important to remember that the psychological well-being of parents affects the exercise of their parental role and, therefore, contributes to conditions that support the child's development and welfare [71,72].…”