The Importance of Relationship Satisfaction and Raising a Child with ASD

Abstract

Couples raising a child with Autism are impacted by greater amounts of stress and lower quality of life than parents who do not have a child diagnosed with Autism. In addition, this reduced quality of life can also interfere with the couple's relationship satisfaction and ability to engage in a healthy and meaningful relationship with their partner. The aim of this capstone was to develop a group program that could be used by clinicians to work with parents who are raising a child with Autism. By attending to the practical and emotional needs of the couple, clinicians can improve overall family functioning longer term for families raising a child with Autism in addition to also improving the quality of life for each individual in the family. A couple's intervention program that incorporates various coping strategies, partner intimacy skills and therapies such as Narrative Therapy, EFT-C and SFBCT is proposed as a way to improve relationship satisfaction in couples raising a child with Autism so that overall family functioning for the parents and child can be accomplished.