Families raising children attending autism-specific government-funded schools in South Africa

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12517331
AutoresSumari Erasmus (0000-0002-6887-6004, University of Pretoria, autor de correspondencia), Alta Kritzinger (0000-0003-0327-8756, University of Pretoria), Jeannie van der Linde (0000-0002-8706-6605, University of Pretoria)
Año2019
Volumen28
Número1
Páginas54-69
Fecha de publicación2019-10-10
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1322-9400 • E-ISSN: 1839-3543
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13229400.2019.1676292
OpenAlexW2980126178
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas47

Limited research is available about the financial costs incurred by families of children with ASD in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). This article describes socio-demographic characteristics of and financial costs encountered by families whose children attend autism-specific government-funded schools in South Africa. Survey questionnaires were completed by 234 caregivers (representing 28.4% of the caregivers involved in the autism-specific schools around the country). The distribution of population group, nationality, household size, marital status, and average combined monthly household income closely reflect the national majority of families in SA. Families are living on a relatively low monthly household income and spending a significant amount on school fees, transportation, medical insurance payments, and extracurricular therapeutic services. Monthly social assistance government grants were accessed by 46.6% of families only and 57% do not own their own dwelling. Certain factors were associated with higher monthly income: higher qualification of the father and mother, school fees, medical insurance scheme payments and extracurricular therapy services. Key differences between our data and data from other LMICs are that our sample showed higher monthly household income, lower parental education, and more single mothers. Families receive limited social assistance grants from governments. Country-specific research on families of children with ASD is needed

Autism · Developmental psychology · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Political science · Project commissioning · Publishing · Raising (metalworking · Sociology · Autism Spectrum Disorder Research · Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues · Engineering · Family and Disability Support Research · Law · Psychology