"I Would Like for My Child to be Happy with His Life": Parental Hopes for Their Children with ASD Across the Lifespan.
Parents care most about happiness, friends, and jobs—build treatment goals around those big four, not tiny skill lists.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Voss et al. (2019) asked parents of children with autism what they want for their child’s future.
They talked to moms and dads of kids from toddlers to adults.
Parents told stories in their own words, not check-boxes.
What they found
Across every age group, parents said the same four things.
They want their child to be happy, have real friends, get a job, and live on their own.
No parent listed “more eye contact” or “fewer hand-flaps” as the dream.
How this fits with other research
King et al. (2018) show the hope is realistic: 47% of eleven-year-olds with autism already score high on happiness and self-esteem.
Cohrs et al. (2017) and Howard et al. (2023) give the hard context—those same parents face double odds of depression and big drops in work hours.
Jurek et al. (2023) pull it together: parent-mediated programs help, but only when services also support caregiver stress and daily life.
Why it matters
Write goals that match parent values. Swap “will tact 50 items” for “will ask a friend to play.” Track happiness and friendship data, not just correct responses. Add parent-well-being checks and job-flex resources to your treatment plan. When goals and family hopes line up, everyone stays in the program longer.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this project was to understand the hopes of parents with children with ASD. Particularly understudied are the hopes parents have for long-term outcomes for their child. A cross-sectional focus group design was used and six focus groups were completed. These groups included parents of (1) preschool aged children who were recently diagnosed, (2) children in early elementary school, (3) children in later elementary school, (4) children in middle school, (5) children in high school, and (6) children who are adults with ASD. Results indicated 77.4% of the data were devoted to hopes for the children's independence, happiness, and skill improvement; increased authentic socially significant relationships; and future employment.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-03882-9