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Echolalia has been described as the repetition of words, phrases, songs or other more elaborate dialogues uttered by another person, which may be immediate or delayed (International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.). Some classify echolalia as a communication impairment reflective of delay, while others consider it a restricted, repetitive pattern of behaviours, without meaningful communicative function. Little attention is given to the experiences of non-clinicians, such as parents or teachers who may hold valuable insights to further our understanding of this phenomenon. This study forms part of a larger programme of inquiry which interviewed parents (N = 133) about their experiences of their sons' and daughters' echolalia. Using hermeneutic phenomenological analysis in an abductive framework, we present a perspective of echolalia that has largely remained silent in literature: echolalia as an expression of neurodiversity. Participants push back against the status quo of intervention, reclaiming echolalia as being a part of their child's identity. Participants want their children to not only enjoy their echolalia but to fully embrace it as being a part of their individual identity. We propose alternatives to a purely clinical perspective of echolalia; alternatives that may place the neurodiversity-affirmative perspectives of our participants in a co-existing tension with clinicians. Echolalia is a commonly found speech and language condition in autistic children. Children with echolalia repeat words and phrases they previously hear in place of proving a non-repetitive response. In research and when visiting speech and language services, one of the common goals is to modify these repetitions so that these children may, more socially, engage with their surrounding environment. In our research, we identified that not all parents want their children's echolalia to be modified. Some parents want their child to be able to enjoy echolalia and others don't want anyone to intervene because they see it as something that makes their child unique and being unique is something to be celebrated. We believe that there might be a way for speech and language services who want to modify echolalia and the parents in our study who do not want their child's echolalia to be modified, to be able to exist side-by-side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents from individualist cultures (those focused on autonomy of individuals; that is, Australian) may view their autistic children differently compared to parents from collectivist cultures (where community needs are valued over an individual's, that is, South-East Asian cultures). As most research on autism and parenting has been undertaken in Western individualist cultures, knowledge of parenting beliefs and mental health within collectivist cultures is lacking. We compared the mental health, quality of life, well-being and parenting sense of competency between families raising an autistic child from two groups: 97 Australian parents and 58 parents from South-East Asian backgrounds. Children from both groups were receiving the same community-based early intervention. No group differences were found on the measures of mental health but, when compared to Australian parents, parents from South-East Asian backgrounds reported higher well-being and less impact on their quality of life resulting from their child's autism-specific difficulties. Furthermore, a positive association between well-being and quality of life was only observed for South-East Asian parents. Hence, the views of, and responses to, disability for South-East Asian parents may act as a protective factor promoting well-being. This novel research indicates that culture plays a role in parenting autistic children and highlights the need to accurately capture cultural background information in research. We know that parents of autistic children experience poorer mental health and lower well-being than parents of non-autistic children. We also know that poorer mental health among parents of autistic children has been observed across different cultures. Most research focuses on Western cultures, so we know little about parental mental health and well-being of parents from different cultural backgrounds; yet, it is likely that cultural background contributes to how parents view their child's condition and respond to the diagnosis. Here, we compared mental health, quality of life and well-being between families raising an autistic child from Australian backgrounds to families from South-East Asian backgrounds. All children in the current study were receiving the same community-based early intervention. When compared to the general population, parents had poorer mental health overall, but there were no differences between the two groups of parents. However, parents from South-East Asian backgrounds reported higher well-being and fewer difficulties associated with their child's autism. These findings suggest that cultural background likely influences not only parent's view of, and response to, their child's autism, but also their own sense of well-being. As researchers and clinicians working with families of autistic children, we should more explicitly consider family's cultural background within our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to have features of the broad autism phenotype and adverse mental health outcomes. The broad autism phenotype can contribute to poorer mental health; however, the mechanism behind this relationship remains uncertain. This study investigated both the predictors of mental health and the relationship between the broad autism phenotype and mental health symptoms in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. This cross-sectional survey recruited 232 Australian mothers (⩾18 years) of children with autism spectrum disorder (0–10 years) and assessed maternal broad autism phenotype, mental health, adult attachment style, degree of social support and parenting experience. Hierarchical multiple regressions, t -tests, correlations and mediation analyses were conducted. Psychological inflexibility was the greatest unique predictor of anxious, depressive and stress symptomatology. Challenging parenting experiences predicted depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology while the broad autism phenotype also uniquely predicted anxious symptoms. Both psychological inflexibility and challenging parenting experiences were significant mediators of the relationships between the broad autism phenotype and depressive symptoms and between the broad autism phenotype and anxiety. Psychological inflexibility alone mediated the relationship between the broad autism phenotype and stress. Targeting psychological inflexibility and supporting parenting are promising avenues for future interventions to support the mental health of mothers of young children with autism spectrum disorder. Mothers of children with autism tend to have poorer mental health outcomes compared to most mothers. Lack of social support, parenting challenges and relationship difficulties are more common for mothers of children with autism and can all affect maternal mental health. Mothers of children with autism are also more likely to have some autistic features, called the broad autism phenotype, that can contribute to poorer mental health; however, how these factors relate to one another are unclear. This study found that mothers who were less flexible in their thinking and behaviour and had more difficult parenting experiences tended to have poorer mental health. Mothers with more autistic features were less flexible in their thinking and behaviour, which, in turn, was linked to greater symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Mothers with greater autistic features also reported more difficult parenting experiences, which was in turn linked with greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. This study suggests that supporting mothers of young children with autism to manage parenting challenges and become more flexible with their thinking and behaviour could help to improve their mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental employment is a significant factor in ensuring financial ability to access care for children with autism spectrum disorder. This article aimed to identify the influence of autism spectrum disorder on parental employment and whether childcare access may effect labour force participation using the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children, with 12 years of follow-up data (2004–2015). Parental employment when the child was aged between 0 and 11 years was assessed. A significantly larger percentage of parents whose children had autism spectrum disorder were not in the labour force when their child was aged between 2–3 and 10–11 years. However, between the ages of 2 and 5 years, these differences were not significant after accounting for maternal and paternal age, education attainment, marital status and mother labour force status prior to birth. Childcare access did not moderate the relationship between autism spectrum disorder and maternal labour force participation. Once children were of schooling age, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder had up to two times the odds of being not in the labour force compared to other mothers, after adjusting for confounders. Evaluations of new interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder should consider how the proposed service impacts on the labour force participation of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder, particularly when the children are of schooling age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents of children with Asperger syndrome face many challenges that may lead them to search for meaning by developing explanations for (sense making) and finding benefits (benefit finding) in having a child with special needs. Although family theorists have proposed that finding meaning occurs interpersonally, there is a dearth of empirical research that has examined finding meaning at the couple level. This study examined sense making and benefit finding in 84 couples who have a child with Asperger syndrome by using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny et al., 2006) to examine actor effects (i.e. the extent to which an individual’s score on the predictor variable impacts his or her own level of adjustment) and partner effects (i.e. the extent to which an individual’s score on the predictor variable has an impact on his or her partner’s level of adjustment) of sense making and benefit finding on parental adjustment. Results demonstrated that parents’ benefit finding related to greater anxiety and parents’ sense making related to not only their own adjustment but also their partner’s adjustment. Results highlight the importance of adopting an interpersonal perspective on finding meaning and adjustment. Limitations, future research and clinical implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prospective questionnaire data from a longitudinal population sample on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental delay, specific language impairment, or typical development (TD), were collected at ages eight, 12 and 24 months, via the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale Developmental Profile (CSBS) – Infant Toddler Checklist, and the Actions and Gesture section of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI):Words and Gestures. The four groups were compared at four years of age to identify whether any early behaviours differentiated the groups. While children with ASD differed from TD children on most social communicative measures by 12 months of age, the only social communication characteristic which could differentiate the children with ASD from the other groups were gesture scores on the CDI at 12 months and the CSBS at 24 months. Significant markers of ASD were identifiable in this community sample at an early age, although discrimination between clinical groups was rarely evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]