Adopting a Holistic Parenting Experience for Children with Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) transcends across social class and cultural background. As a developed country, Singapore continues to face challenges pose by ASD. Beyond the family unit, parents of children with ASD experience social stigmatization and difficulties seeking communal support. Caregiving becomes increasingly burdensome. Parents may cultivate negative parenting that further complicates their children’s growth development. This paper presents a holistic approach for parents managing challenging behaviors influenced by ASD. Responsive parenting holds key in aiding parents with their daily struggles. The authors posit five components that contribute to effective parenting, namely mind-set, techniques, time, relational context and parental love. Together, they assist parents to assess and reflect their relational experience. Parents learn to customize their approach to meet the child’s unique needs. This will shape the parent-child interactional pattern and foster positive family relationship.