Analyzing social support regarding the lived experience of mothers with autistic children

Increasing the diagnosis of children with autism and the profound impact of their presence on family life, especially mothers, in the difficult responsibility of parenting, caring, accompanying them in rehabilitation treatment is a significant issue for researchers in women and family studies. Regarding this, having social support can facilitate matters and reduce the pressure of the social role of mothers. Realizing this and considering the scarcity of research in this field, the present study was organized with a qualitative approach and by semi-structured interviews with 18 mothers of Autistic children in Tehran province to receive their perception of various types of social support.The results indicate that the emotional support expressed by husbands is in a range of understanding, attention and empathy on the one hand and the denial and resistance on the other. Moreover expressing empathy and hope or blame and comparison, from the couple's parent's family is other forms of perceived emotional support from mothers. Insufficient information to the adult and children communities leads to blame, misjudgement and misunderstanding by others and as a limiting factor deteriorate the daily life of children and mothers and leads to social exclusion and their voluntary isolation. The stated instrumental support also highlights the need to review and develop guidelines tailored to the living conditions of these children's families. Having higher levels of social support requires socio-cultural policies that meet the needs of the child and the mother.