سبب شناسی عدم مشارکت موثر پدران کودکان اوتیستیک در روند درمان توانبخشی فرزندانشان

Background and Aims: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty using verbal and non-verbal communication in society and cannot communicate effectively. Also, repeating certain behaviors, interests, and activities in autism disrupts social and occupational functions. These children have numerous behavioral problems, including stereotyped self-stimulation and aggression. Autism disorder is a lifelong and debilitating disorder that affects not only the affected person but also the family. Research indicates that the issues of a disabled child often affect the functioning of the family and cause stress to parents. Many researches have focused on mothers to investigate the impact of the presence of an autistic child in the family. Investigated the problems and needs of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.



Although the fathers of autistic children play a vital and important role in the upbringing of their children, their work is often ignored. The role of Iranian fathers in caring for autistic children as very weak and the role of these fathers is only limited to providing expenses.

In this research, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. After conducting each interview, its text was implemented and the researcher analyzed it through coding based on the foundational data theory approach (open coding, axial coding, and selective coding). The statistical population of this research is the fathers of autistic children in Iran. According to the research approach and the use of the data-based theory method, the sample of this research was selected purposefully and with the theoretical sampling method. To investigate the reasons for non-participation of fathers, fathers of children who had been diagnosed with autism by a neurologist for at least 5 years ago were selected. A total of 16 fathers were interviewed. This research was done in 4 stages.



Results

The lack of effective participation, the lack of positive employment in fatherhood, the lack of decision-making in choosing programs, and purely financial participation were observed as open codes. Lack of positive employment in fatherhood is one of the main components of participation in positive activities in fatherhood. The results of the present research show that fathers do not spend enough time with their autistic children, either due to limited time resources or energy resources. They do not participate in fatherhood in the sense of direct interaction with the child in the majority of care, play, or recreation.

Many fathers avoid outdoor activities due to the negative view of the society. The results of the present research show that in some cases, unrealistic expectations due to low acceptance lead to inappropriate interactions between the father and the child, which indicates the lack of warmth and responsiveness of the father in the interaction with the child. Some fathers abandon their children and not only do not give them time to play and have fun but also do not try to participate in other matters. Fathers unanimously stated that the decision-making is with the child's mother and they do not participate in it. In this regard, it was stated that because the mother gets to know professional experts and desirable programs by interacting with other mothers, she is better qualified to make decisions for the child.

In the current research, common points were found as causal conditions taken from the behavior and emotions of these fathers, which appeared with the central code of the psychological category.. Fathers of autistic children also experience both state and trait anxiety according to their interpretation and perception of the problem.

According to the conducted interviews, non-acceptance is the main component that facilitates its lack of awareness. In the present research, in the interviews, most of the fathers have explicitly used the term "not tolerating" and chose reactions such as liberation and avoiding being with the child. The use of words such as frustration and disappointment was one of the things that can be seen in the interviews; two types of despair, despair from treatment and despair from the child's independence, are evident.

In this research, the open codes of avoidance, denial, and reasoning cover how fathers deal with the problem of the presence of an autistic child, which was examined under the title of coping strategies as a central category.

The father of an autistic child tries to deal emotionally with the stressful situation of the presence of an autistic child by removing the stressful factor (not seeing the child) for a short period of time or distraction. The intervening conditions that appeared during the research include insufficient professional competence of the treatment team and lack of trust in the treatment team. Inadequate professional competence of the treatment team is another case that was addressed as an intervening condition.



In the current research, the researcher called the series of special conditions in which the action/interaction strategies are carried out, the category of contextual conditions, and placed it in the central category of the contextual component. The researcher's conclusion regarding the lack of support from related organizations is the reason for the lack of support from Organizations. Common misconceptions are another thing that has been discussed in the relevant categories. Coping strategies such as avoidance, denial, and rationalization are behaviors that occur in the context of the lack of support from related organizations and the negative view of society along with common false beliefs. This context itself can intensify these behaviors. On the other hand, things like the lack of trust in the treatment team and the lack of competence of them will intensify this behavior as interfering components.



Conclusion:



The phenomenon of effective participation is affected by psychological factors such as anxiety, perfectionism, low distress threshold, and low acceptance, which manifests itself in the form of the father's insistence on only financial participation, lack of positive involvement in fatherhood, and lack of decision-making in choosing programs. It shows in the end, these coping strategies lead to consequences including a decrease in the tendency to seek treatment, a decrease in marital quality, and a mother's fatigue, which appeared in this research.