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Experiences of Parents of Children with ASD: Implications for Inclusive Parental Engagement

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Abstract

Despite the documented benefits of engaging parents in their children’s education, some parents become marginalized due to the ways parental engagement is conceptualized and implemented in schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the experience of parents who have children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as they try to engage in their children’s education. As a result of this hermeneutic phenomenological work, we first explored two major themes: parental engagement as demanding work and searching for partnership while coping with marginalization. Then a third theme were explored focusing on the overarching meaning of their experiences. Our findings show that parental engagement has been a highly demanding and overwhelming responsibility for these parents, and they experienced a sense of isolation and marginalization in school environments. At the intersection of research focusing on inclusive education, home-school partnership, and school leadership, we discuss implications for educators, policy makers, and teacher preparation programs.

Highlights

  • Even dedicated parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience marginalization in schools.

  • Traditional, school–centric views of home–school partnership can further contribute to marginalization of parents of children with ASD.

  • School leadership plays a central role in defining what parents of children with ASD experience as a partnership.

  • There is a need for further research to go beyond rhetoric and explore the experiences of children with ASD and their families.

  • Teacher preparation programs should include courses that engage in the critical research focusing on the experiences of children with ASD and their families.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the support we received from Cumhuriyet Elementary School (CES), its students, parents and all staff members, and we send our special thanks to the whole CES community, but especially to those who contributed to this study through their direct engagement. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the journal editors and especially the blind reviewers who had greatly contributed to the improvement of our manuscript through their detailed and constructive feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Higher Education, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    Bilal Urkmez & Mehmet Guzen

  2. Department of Educational Sciences, Amasya University, Amasya, Turkey

    Serafettin Gedik

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  1. Bilal Urkmez
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  2. Serafettin Gedik
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Correspondence to Serafettin Gedik.

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Urkmez, B., Gedik, S. & Guzen, M. Experiences of Parents of Children with ASD: Implications for Inclusive Parental Engagement. J Child Fam Stud 32, 951–964 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02481-0

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