Impact of Faith, Religion, and Faith-Based Practices on African American Mothers with Autistic Children

Though there is an abundance of research identifying the significant role that faith-based coping strategies play in the lives of African American women when facing challenging life circumstances, there is a scarcity of research examining its impact on African American mothers raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Qualitative research exploring the experiences of African American mothers could provide insight into the ways in which faith, religion and faith-based practices influence African American mothers raising children with Autism. This Phenomenological study examined the influence of faith-based coping tools on fifteen African American mothers with autistic children. Five main research questions were explored: (1) How does faith, religion, and faith-based practices play a role in the coping strategies utilized by African American women raising children with autism? (2) Other than faith-based strategies, what coping tools and supports do these mothers utilize? (3) What impact if any, do faith, religion and faith-based practices have on mothers’ well-being and their perception of their children’s autism diagnosis? (4) What influence do the mothers believe that God has over their child’s prognosis?; and (5) How supportive do the mothers feel their religious community is towards them and their children? After analysis of the data, five main themes were identified including: (1) Emotions; (2) Faith-based practices and interactions; (3) Mothers’ perceptions of God’s role in their lives; (4) Experience of raising a child with Autism; and (5) Non-faith-based supports and interactions. The mothers revealed that faith-based interventions are a critical coping tool when managing the challenges associated with caring for their autistic children. Although all the mothers participating in the study verbalized a belief in a higher power, there were different views expressed on how God intervenes in their lives. The mothers verbalized a variety of both negative and positive attitudes regarding the support they received from their religious communities. Also, though faith-based tools were identified as being effective, other non-faith-based supports were noted as being helpful as well. Lastly, the mothers verbalized experiencing a range of emotions related to their child’s diagnosis of Autism. These emotions were found to change over time as the mothers adjusted and adapted to their child’s diagnosis. Implications and recommendations for future research, practice and policy were discussed.