EPA-1377 – Lost Hopes. How to Cope with Our Child's Developmental Disorder and try to Live a Happy Life?

Abstract

It is a serious crisis in the life of the family when it comes to light that the child has some kind of developmental problem. The parents have to cope with the fact of the disorder and provide support for the child. The family system is often undergoing changes and previous relationships get strained. The parents may remain alone with their difficulties and become isolated from the social environment. The aim of my study was to explore the family representations of mothers with an autistic child and get more information about changes the family system went through in connection with the child's diagnosis. I used Gehring's Family System Test (FAST), with some changes, linking responses to (1) a typical situation from the present, (2) the event of the child's birth (3) and the time period after the child's diagnosis. Mothers’ representations showed that while the child's birth typically was a joyful event in the pair's life, the typical situation from the present and the time period of the diagnosis were considerable challenges for the parents. In several cases the family fell apart after the crisis or the parents did not undertake to have more children. Mothers with a typical developing child generally demonstrated a stronger relationship with their husband and were able to share pleasant emotions in varied situations, even during difficult life events.