Studying the families of children with ASD

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This article was published 05/08/2020 (1925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Wolseley researcher is looking into the family dynamics of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Dr. Jen Theule, associate professor at the University of Manitoba, is organizing a research study for the Family and Developmental Psychopathology Lab. Working with a few students, they’re researching the strengths, parenting experiences and family dynamics of children with and without ASD.

Information is being collected through an online survey. The study needs more participants, and they’re looking for mothers of children aged between 6 and 11, who are neurotypical or diagnosed with ASD.

Theule hopes that by comparing their subjects, they can identify what parenting styles make things challenging for children with ASD.

“We know from research that some families of children with ASD thrive, while many more struggle. What is it about those families that are doing well? We are actually curious to know if perhaps a mother’s own characteristics of ASD help her in parenting a child with ASD,” Theule said. “We are also looking at families of children with ADHD and families of children without either disorder to see if these relationships are the same or different in these groups.“

Theule said research into ASD is still developing, so there isn’t a lot of hard data on what works versus what doesn’t. As the field develops, researchers are learning that some characteristics that are helpful in most families are actually harmful in families of children with ASD and vice versa.

ASD is a condition related to brain development. Because the disorder has a wide range of symptoms and challenges, there is no one-size-fits-all therapy that works for every child. Typically, it impacts how a person perceives and socializes with others, causing problems in social interaction and communication. It can also include limited and repetitive patterns of behaviour.

Theule is getting help from several students for her research: Brenna Henrikson, Karis Cochrane and Michelle Ward.

Ward, a clinical psychology student at the U of M, hopes the study can be done in a holistic way. Instead of reinforcing the challenges with ASD, she wants to also show the strengths.

“We’re really coming at this with a strength-based perspective. It’s a new angle to a lot of these issues, often you hear about how much of a struggle (ASD) is. For families of children with ASD, ADHD … We need to understand not only their struggles, but also what’s working,” Ward said. “That might be different for families with ASD … It’s important to create a full picture instead of focusing just on the negative.”

Theule echoed Ward’s comments on the study. Theule is also a practising clinical psychologist, and she deals with families who parent children with ASD. The researchers hope to move away from blame and shame associated with the disorder, highlighting the strengths they see in families and helping others thrive.

The survey takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Participants are entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

 To take the survey, visit fdpl.ca/participate