Autism And The Family In Urban India: Looking Back, Looking Forward
by Shubhangi Vaidya /
2016 / English / PDF
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The book explores the lived reality of parenting and caring for
children with autism in contemporary urban India. It is based on
a qualitative, ethnographic study of families of children with
autism as they negotiate the tricky terrain of identifying their
child s disability, obtaining a diagnosis, accessing appropriate
services and their on-going efforts to come to terms with and
make sense of their child s unique subjectivity and mode of
being. It examines the gendered dimensions of coping and
care-giving and the differential responses of mothers and
fathers, siblings and grandparents and the extended family
network to this complex and often extremely challenging
condition.
The book explores the lived reality of parenting and caring for
children with autism in contemporary urban India. It is based on
a qualitative, ethnographic study of families of children with
autism as they negotiate the tricky terrain of identifying their
child s disability, obtaining a diagnosis, accessing appropriate
services and their on-going efforts to come to terms with and
make sense of their child s unique subjectivity and mode of
being. It examines the gendered dimensions of coping and
care-giving and the differential responses of mothers and
fathers, siblings and grandparents and the extended family
network to this complex and often extremely challenging
condition.
The book tackles head on the sombre question, What will happen to
the child after the parents are gone ? It also critically
examines the role of the state, civil society and legal and
institutional frameworks in place in India and undertakes a case
study of Action for Autism ; a Delhi-based NGO set up by parents
of children with autism. This book also draws upon the
author s own engagement with her child’ s disability and thus
lends an authenticity born out of lived experience and in-depth
understanding. It is a valuable addition to the literature in the
sociology of the family and disability studies.
The book tackles head on the sombre question, What will happen to
the child after the parents are gone ? It also critically
examines the role of the state, civil society and legal and
institutional frameworks in place in India and undertakes a case
study of Action for Autism ; a Delhi-based NGO set up by parents
of children with autism. This book also draws upon the
author s own engagement with her child’ s disability and thus
lends an authenticity born out of lived experience and in-depth
understanding. It is a valuable addition to the literature in the
sociology of the family and disability studies.