Parenting Role in Delivering Home Based Sexual Education for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The adolescent with spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents experience much differently in their lives as compared to the parents of normal adolescents. This study aimed at seeking the challenges which their parents experience during the provision of home-based sexual education. This study was exploratory and qualitative. There were 12 parents of adolescent with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who were the sample of this study. This study used purposive sampling from the group of non-probability sampling technique. A self-developed semi-structured interview protocol was administered to collect data. There were 03 expert who validated the instrument through their expert opinion. An extensive literature review helped the researchers in the reliability of the instrument. The thematic analysis technique was applied for data analysis. Thematic analysis revealed four major themes including parents’ perception, challenges for parents, efforts by parents, and strategies for parents. This study’s findings revealed that majority participants reported that sexual education at home is right of adolescent with ASD. The study recommended special orientation sessions for parents of ASD on home-based sexual education.