Journal of Childhood & Developmental Disorders

Abstract

ASD is a complex developmental disorder that can cause problems with thinking, feeling, language and the ability to relate to others. Transitions are the continuity of experiences that children have between periods and between spheres of their lives. Key transitions can be particularly stressful for children having ASD and their families. Due to their social communication difficulties with respect to barriers, children with ASD find educational transitions particularly challenging.

A communication barrier is anything that prevents one from receiving and understanding the messages others use to convey their information, ideas and thoughts. My research is based on parental experiences during educational transitions. There is no specific research done on the experiences of parents during the educational transitions of their children with ASD (nursery to primary years) in India till date. These early years are very crucial for the child and also the parents in the educational process of the child. All researches being done are mostly related to the medical science aspects of autism and some on the general stress levels of the parents. The findings would encourage practitioners with ideas for better practice incorporating the views of parents and also contributing to academic literature on this topic. It is intended that the outcomes of my research will benefit the local community including the children, parents, educators and support services aiming to address the gap in literature and would offer a detailed and timely exploration of parental experiences and perspectives around their childrens’ transitions from nursery to primary schools in India.