FINDING MEANING IN LIFE FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: A SALUTOGENIC APPROACH

Parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has never been easy. Research has shown that parenting stress is much higher whose children are diagnosed with developmental disabilities such as ASD than typically developing children. The contributing factors include, but not limited to, the child’s limited social and communication skills and restricted and stereotypical activities (core deficits of autism). Parents lacking knowledge about ASD often resort to other forms of interventions in the hope to find a cure and believe it can help to eradicate the deficits of the disorder. Such treatments are known as complementary and/or alternative medicine and are not evidence-based. As there is no current remedy for ASD, perhaps it is time for parents to stop finding a cure to this disorder. In this paper, the author uses the application of the theory of salutogenesis and with the use of the three salutogenic components ? meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability, aim to help parents establish a sense of coherence by identifying, understanding and managing their children with ASD.? Article visualizations: