Abstract
Research on families’ experiences raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is limited in minority ethnic and cultural groups, such as the Arab American community. Twenty Arab American caregivers raising children with ASD completed online questionnaires regarding their experiences with stigma and acculturation. Nine participants completed follow-up phone interviews. Perceived stigma fell in the low to moderate range. Acculturation related to social interactions indicated slightly greater assimilation compared to separation, and slightly greater integration over marginalization. During interviews, participants discussed the impact of disability stigma, distancing from their communities, and parent gender roles. By better understanding Arab American families raising children with ASD professionals can work towards improving clinical services for these families.
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Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge our funding sources: the Society for Research in Child Development Student and Early Career Council Dissertation Funding Award and the Dr. Philip M. Kayal Fund for Arab American Research. This work was a component of Serene Habayeb’s doctoral dissertation work.
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This study is a component of SH dissertation work and BR and SD served on her dissertation committee. All authors contributed to the study conception, design, and material preparation. Data collection and analysis were performed by SH. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SH and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Habayeb, S., Dababnah, S., John, A. et al. Cultural Experiences of Arab American Caregivers Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 51–62 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04218-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04218-3