"Du är inte dålig för att du ber om hjälp!" : En kvalitativ studie om strategier och stöd som används av föräldrar till barn med autism

Sammanfattning: Parents of children with mental disabilities experience more stress than other parents. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews conducted with six parents of children with autistic spectrum disorder. The aim of the study was to examine what strategies parents of children with autistic spectrum disorder use in order to manage and cope with everyday life and what support they feel that they receive from school, habilitation, LSS, family and friends. The empirical data was interpreted with coping theory. The interviewed parents mostly experienced that support and services were given, but that the quality of the support and service often was rather poor. The main problem that the parents identified was the lack of knowledge in professionals and other people working with their child.