Graduation Year
2009
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Special Education
Major Professor
Patricia Alvarez McHatton, Ph.D.
Committee Member
David Allsopp, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Arthur Bochner, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Sylvia Diehl, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Jeannie Kleinhammer-Tramill, Ph.D.
Keywords
disability, families, narrative, qualitative research, life-course theory
Abstract
This qualitative study examines the lived experience of culturally diverse caregivers to children with ASD. The study is situated within the theoretical framework of the life-course theory. Specifically, the impact of the transition of diagnosis on the trajectory of the primary caregiver's life-course is explored. Further, coping mechanisms, caregiver burden/satisfaction, diagnosis, and other components which contribute to the larger construct of lived experience are discussed. Participant stories were obtained through the use of interactive interviewing techniques and transcripts were transformed into a cohesive narrative designed to evoke emotion within the reader while preserving the authenticity of the data. Further, the study contributes to a disability-related discourse which challenges the current deficit model and gives a voice to individuals who may have previously been marginalized based on their cultural and disability-related characterizations.
Scholar Commons Citation
Brace, Heather J., "Lived Experience: Diverse Perspectives on Raising a Child with Autism" (2009). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/1870
