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Snapshots reflecting the lives of siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders
Author(s) -
Latta A.,
Rampton T.,
Rosemann J.,
Peterson M.,
Mandleco B.,
Dyches T.,
Roper S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/cch.12100
Subject(s) - sibling , autism spectrum disorder , autism , psychology , developmental psychology , intervention (counseling) , perspective (graphical) , qualitative research , photo elicitation , coding (social sciences) , psychiatry , social science , knowledge management , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , statistics , mathematics
Background Past research focused on the effects of raising a child with autism spectrum disorder on families. However, most research examined parents' perspectives rather than siblings' perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative descriptive design was to use photo elicitation to capture perspectives of siblings living with a child with autism spectrum disorder. Methods Fourteen siblings (nine male) of 13 children with autism spectrum disorder received disposable cameras with 24–27 colour exposures, and were asked to photograph what was important to them within 2 weeks. After developing snapshots, investigators interviewed siblings about their photographs, and used open, axial and selective coding to determine photograph categories and subcategories. Results Two major categories were found: people (family members, non‐family members) and non‐people (personal items/objects, animals, buildings, scenery). Interviews about photographs reflected experiences siblings had with people/non‐people in the snapshots and their normal everyday activities. Most photographs revealed family life and activities any sibling would experience whether or not they lived in a family raising a child with autism spectrum disorder. Conclusions Photo elicitation facilitates communication between children and health‐care professionals, and provides information about living with a child with autism spectrum disorder from the sibling's perspective. This information contributes to our knowledge base and allows development of specific intervention plans for siblings of these children.