Resilient autistic families: The importance of psychological support for inclusion in a participatory, present, and informed community

Abstract

 The psychological support relationship intervenes in influencing the parenting capacity, on the way in which parents judge and evaluate the disability event and the situations connected to it. In fact, support is related to the perception that parents have of their children's limitations, social limitations and behavior problems. The goal is to enhance the experiences of the families themselves starting from a reassessment of the value of their narratives in order to involve families in a process of awareness. The hypothesis that guided this work is the belief that helping families is essential to allow children with autism a future in which they are concretely protagonists of their lives and participate in social life. Three individual meetings were planned first and then group meetings. The model used is the integrated Gestalt model, in particular attention has been focused on the contact cycle and the mechanisms for interrupting its flow, with the aim of involving them concretely from the beginning to the end of the processes. The work highlighted that it is possible to reduce sources of stress, refine evaluation and coping skills, strengthen the network of extra-family social supports, improve relationships within the family, improve relationships between parents and professionals. The innovative aspect is to have paid particular attention to parents within the field theory.

Keywords: family, autism, gestalt