Quality of Life of Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Children with special needs (CWSN) experience disabilities in various areas. The birth of a child with special needs causes stress in the family, most especially among parents, consequently affecting parental quality of life (QOL). This paper describes the QOL of parents of Ahmedabad CWSN and examines the determinants of parental QOL using a mixed-methods design. The ADHD and ASD children’s parents were taken into account in the sample selection. The participants are parents of Ahmedabad CWSN (n = 100) and were asked to answer the Quality-of-Life Questionnaire developed by S. Sharma and N. Nasreen. Clinical Interviews were also conducted among a sub-sample of the parents who answered the questionnaire earlier. Results indicate a gender-wise quality of life as parents of Ahmedabad children with special needs express and exhibit negative stresses that affect their lives.