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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2020

Open Access 01-12-2020 | Autism Spectrum Disorder | Research article

Parents’ multi-layered expectations when requesting an Autism Spectrum Disorder assessment of their young child: an in-depth interview study

Authors: Delphine Jacobs, Jean Steyaert, Kris Dierickx, Kristien Hens

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

Background

Parents are valued stakeholders in research, clinical practice and policy development concerning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about what drives and moves parents besides their obvious worries and help request when they ask for a diagnostic ASD assessment of their child.

Methods

Seventeen Flemish parents of 11 young children participated in a longitudinal study consisting of three in-depth interviews before and after their child’s diagnostic ASD assessment. Data were analysed in Nvivo 11 according to the procedures of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Results

In this paper we report the results of the first series of interviews which were conducted after parents had asked for an ASD assessment of their young child, and before this assessment started. The pre-assessment experiences of the parents were dominated by the anticipation of various implications of an ASD diagnosis, comprising both positive and negative expectations. The theme of positive expectations consisted of two equally prominent subthemes: treatment-related implications but also expectations pertaining to their psychological and relational experiences.

Conclusions

This study suggests important issues for clinicians to bear in mind during a consultation with parents who request an ASD assessment of their young child. We argue that attending to and communicating about parents’ expectations prior to their child’s ASD assessment may help clinicians to better understand parents’ requests for help, and to address their needs more effectively.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
Since this study focused on very young children, we did not investigate the children’s own experiences but the experiences of their parents, who have been found to be indispensable for children in the ASD process [69, 70].
 
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Metadata
Title
Parents’ multi-layered expectations when requesting an Autism Spectrum Disorder assessment of their young child: an in-depth interview study
Authors
Delphine Jacobs
Jean Steyaert
Kris Dierickx
Kristien Hens
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02806-7

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