Sensory integration of children with autism spectrum disorder: parents' experiences
ENAutism covers a broad spectrum of disorders for which there are many views, hypotheses, and theories. Signs of sensory integration disorders vary in complexity and manifest differently for each child. Children with sensory integration disorders may have difficulty interacting correctly with their environment. These difficulties can influence a child’s gross and fine motor development, balance, coordination, visual perception, and self-help skills, thus having a potential impact on the ability to engage in social activities and develop feelings of success and mastery in the environment. In order to improve mutual interactions and the successful socialization of autistic children, it is essential to understand what kind of reactions to sensory stimuli prevail in each sensory system in the presence of their disorder and how parents can help their children. The aim of the study is to reveal parents' experiences related to sensory integration disorders of autistic children. A qualitative research methodology (semi-structured interview, content analysis) was chosen for this study. When defining the target group, the main criterion that had to be met – the study participants are parents raising children with autism spectrum disorder (N=15). The content analysis method was used for the analysis of the research data. The research results revealed that autistic children have a variety of sensory integration disorders. Parents' different experiences of recognizing the signs of sensory integration are highlighted, noting the difficulties they encounter.Parents consider it essential to recognize and understand sensory integration (hyper/hyposensitivity) since parent-identified goals can be part of the learning process for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The research participants indicated how they solved the child's behavioral challenges related to sensory integration processes, which allows parents to get to know the children with ASD needs, create an engaging and inclusive environment, and ensure the child's well-being. Keywords: autism, sensory integration, parents' experiences, inclusive environment.
