Grief experience and its impact on mothers of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder during the pandemic

Abstract

Objective: to understand the experience of grief that mothers experience when receiving the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their child and whether the context of the COVID pandemic affects this experience in some way. Methodology: qualitative phenomenological design. The participants in this research were three mothers of children diagnosed with ASD. The strategy that was used to produce the data to be analyzed was the semi-structured interview, which was analyzed and coded. Results: for two of the three mothers interviewed, ASD did not mean an illness or a disability, but a condition and a way of life; being something they would not change in their children. In contrast, mother three does perceive it as an illness. Conclusion: it was possible to conclude that the arrival of a child with ASD, as well as any other condition that escapes the idea of what is understood as normal, constitutes a mourning for the dreams, hopes and expectations that arise along with the wait of a child and who are frustrated by the diagnosis.