Parents and grandparents view the autistic child.
Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers of 19 autistic children completed a questionnaire describing their view of the handicapped child, the impact of the child on the parent, and the relationship between the parents and grandparents. Paired t tests revealed that whenever there was a significant difference between the generations, grandparents took a more positive view. For example, maternal grandmothers had a more positive view of the child than did their daughters, and paternal grandmothers had a more positive view of their relationship with their son than did the son. Grandmothers demonstrated an empathic understanding of their daughter's experiences. There was a significant Pearson product-moment correlation between grandmothers and grandfathers in overall scores, their view of the child, and how they viewed their son's or daughter's experiences as the parent of a handicapped child. Maternal grandparents visited the family significantly more often than paternal grandparents. The study offers us a first empirical look at grandparents and their autistic grandchild.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004645:Empathy; D005190:Family; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires