The impact of a child with autism on the Bruneian family system

An investigation of parents' perspectives on family life with a child with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in Negara Brunei Darussalam (Brunei) and the socio-cultural context in which these families function was conducted. It has been suggested that the impact of a child with a developmental disability, like autism spectrum disorder, on the family appears to be related to demographic; child and parent characteristics (Dur-Vila, Dein, & Hodes, 2010). Thirty sets of Bruneian parents with children with ASD aged between 4 - 12 years were surveyed regarding the impact of having a child with autism on family functioning. The investigator found that based on the results from the Impact on Family Scale (Stein & Reissman, 2004) that the financial situation, social interaction within and outside the home, and the subjective distress felt by the parents were found to be high on impact. Content analyses of the narrative data indicated that parents' Islamic faith influenced their coping with rearing a child with ASD in Brunei. This study highlights the need for further investigation of parent adjustment in terms of Islamic cultural influence, the context, help seeking and support service uptake.