CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY PARENTS OF CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM

The arrival of a child increases the self-esteem of many families bringing joy, dreams and emotions, but the discovery of a disorder can shake this structure. Currently the medicine lacks technology that can diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder during pregnancy. This work had as general objective to verify the social confrontations of these families. The research presents a qualitative and quantitative, descriptive approach. As a tool, a semi-structured interview applied to 5 family members of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder was used, with the data collected in the research analyzed using content analysis. Regarding the results, it was found that 4 of family members obtained the diagnosis before the child was three years old. It was understood that the age of the parents could interfere in the chances of the child presenting the disorder. It is noteworthy that, despite presenting an early diagnosis, many mothers reported the difficulty of finding specialized professionals causing distress, suffering and fear. It is understood that each family has its ways of facing the difficulty related to the disorder and its paradigms.