Lessons Learned From Mothers: Parenting Perspectives for Preventing Pediatric Unintentional Injuries Related to Autism

Abstract

Objective: Autistic children have higher unintentional injury risk than typically developing children, but little is known about how parents succeed or struggle in keeping their autistic children safe from injury. Qualitative methods evaluated the concerns of unintentional injury prevention experienced by mothers of autistic children and the impact of these strategies on maternal quality of life. Methods: Fifteeen mothers (M _age = 37.80 years) of autistic children participated in a semi-structured interview addressing child characteristics, injury concerns and experiences, and injury prevention strategies and resources. Interviews were transcribed and coded in NVivo following a systematic, inductive approach. Results: Mothers of autistic children have significant concerns regarding child injury prevention, leading to increased feelings of parental responsibility and need for constant supervision of their autistic child. The sustainability of safety strategies that encompass supervision, such as proximity and control, were concerning to mothers. The dominant role of supervision leads to reports of exhaustion and increased cognitive load. Despite this, the mothers reported these efforts were necessary to prevent injury in their child. Conclusions: By evaluating the lived experiences of mothers with autistic children, this study identified maternal responsibility and supervision as the most critical and most demanding aspects of child injury prevention. Clinicians working with families who have autistic children should consider encouraging parents to proactively develop effective and practical safety interventions to reduce child injury risk as well as reducing caregiver stress.