Challenges facing guardians of children with autism spectrum disorder : a case study of Buffalo City and Chris Hani, Eastern Cape

This study, focused on challenges facing guardians of children with autism spectrum disorder at Buffalo City Metro and Lady Frere in Chris Hani District in the Eastern Cape (South Africa). The specific objectives of the study were: investigate the challenges faced by guardians of children with autism spectrum disorder; to investigate the extent of support offered by family members, community members, and local organisations; and to assess the support services offered by professionals working with families of children with autism spectrum disorder. The study was exploratory and qualitative in nature. Semi structured interviews consisting of seventeen (17) guardians of children with autism spectrum disorder were conducted. A once off session of eight (8) different professionals who served as focus group members was also conducted as method of data collection. The study discovered the following: Poor oversight by the legislature specifically on autism spectrum disorder interventions which is a constitutional obligation, compromises key services for the vulnerable groups; the derisory personnel to deliver effective interventions to guardians of children with autism spectrum disorder; lack of coping mechanisms by guardians to deal with the situation; lack of information about autism spectrum disorder especially in rural areas; the information on autism spectrum disorder is much better in urban setup than rural areas; poor stakeholder relations result in poor service rendition; and there is minimal or no support at all from family members and general public to families of children with autism spectrum disorder. The study made the following recommendations: Resources are still benefitted more by urban dwellers and rural areas still suffer such that Chris Hani still access services in Buffalo City, a need for vibrant integrated psychosocial interventions by various stakeholders with social service practitioners being part of the team; the Department of Education in Eastern Cape to recognize homeschooling and assist in registering homeschools as alternative centers for education to benefit children with autism spectrum disorder; the Eastern Cape Legislature to establish a vibrant monitoring and evaluation sector to measure the impact of site visits for various government departments; the government should scale up resource allocation for autism related interventions; the government should tackle and practically address the imbalances of the past as resources are still in urban areas such as specialized health care facilities; the policy development on management of autism spectrum disorder is paramount; and the general public and families must be empowered so that they can support the guardians of children with autism spectrum disorder