The Lived Experiences of Thriving Family Caregivers of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder is a lifelong disease, and because of its nature, the adverse effects on the quality of life of families and patients are evident. The consequences of the disease can be far-reaching for their families, who often end up supporting and caring for them. Hence, this study would dig in exploring the lived experiences of thriving family caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder. The interpretative phenomenological analysis approach was utilized by the researcher to make sense of their lived experiences. The results identified four major themes: facing diagnosis challenges, handling stress of caregiving, holding on to faith and growing holistically. In addition to the major themes are the eight subthemes: having limited knowledge about ASD, handling physical stress, handling emotional stress, gaining confidence, finding meaning through spirituality, broadening their sense of understanding, accepting their family members’ condition, and gaining a greater sense of fulfillment. With the challenges and stress of caregiving, it was revealed that most family caregivers cope by holding on to their faith which allowed them to see things from a different perspective. Rather than dwelling on the stress of caregiving, they focused on their faith that they are in this situation for a reason. It can be concluded that even though family caregivers face various challenges in caregiving their family members with ASD, they still can thrive and have a meaningful life