European Autism Congress

Autism is one of the complex neuro developmental disability that commonly manifest symptoms during early child hood years of life and affects various aspects of development in child such as social, communication and behaviour. Numerous studies reported that the prevalence of diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder is drastically increasing over these decades. This qualitative study provides evidence for Indian mother’s parenting experiences of children with ASD and findings would provide identification of problems, need based care and guidance for professionals. The main objective of this study was to explore the experiences of mothers parenting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with a view formulate a conceptual model based on the constructs identified. The participants were mothers between the age group of 24-50 years undergoing parent child training from New Delhi, India. The study used qualitative grounded theory methodology in order to derive a conceptual model for ‘parenting a child with ASD’. The study is based on in depth interviews with seven mothers who were meeting the eligibility criteria. The interviews were digitally recorded and anonymity and confidentiality of the participants were assured. The translated data were coded and categorised using open code software. The qualitative data analysis revealed thirteen major categories and forty six sub categories and a core category was derived out of the