Coping and Other Psychological Aspects of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The thesis concerns the topic of parental care for children with autism spectrum disorder. In the theoretical part there are described the main areas in which the autistic spectrum disorders manifest and the description of particular disorders. Next chapter describes this issue from point of view of parental care, it describes the difficulty of the situation, the impact on the lives of parents and whole families, factors affecting the adaptation to the situation and its overall management. Next part concerns the stress management and meaning of life and both of these topics are related to parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. The qualitative study was chosen for the first part of research. The sample is composed of 11 mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Data for study was collected by half- structured interviews and supplemented by Logo-test. Quantitative study focus on coping strategies using test SVF 78 and on meaning of life using Logo-test. 50 mothers participated in this part of research. The results of study describe the impact of care for a child with autism spectrum disorder to the lives of parents. It seems that the situation causes numerous of changes in the lives of parents and affects their values and attitude to life. Difficulty of the situation is perceived..