The impact of the diagnosis of autism experienced by mothers.

• Grant number: 24/00781-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Jorge Luís Ferreira Abrão
• Grantee: Helena Modesto Capellini
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Kanner's ideas resonated significantly with the development of psychoanalytic theories about autism, which led to hypotheses with an exaggerated focus on "refrigerator mothers" and overly simplistic psychogenic explanations, as did American psychodynamicists such as Bruno Bettelheim. This movement generated guilt and pain in the parents of autistic children, and was even the basis for advocating forms of therapy that took children away from their parents. The psychoanalytic view of autism, initially proposed with kannerian influences, and with Bruno Bettelheim as its representative, blames mothers as it places them as the etiological reason for autism or the symptoms that guarantee its diagnosis according to the DSM-V and ICD-11 criteria. In this sense, it fails to recognize mothers as subjects who are also impacted by their children, just as the reverse also occurs; the mother-baby relationship is dynamic and can only exist within the bond itself. Historically, mothers have been blamed for their children's autism, so new formulations in psychoanalysis need to take responsibility for removing mothers from the position that has been imposed on them. In this sense, the research project in question has as its guiding point the recognition of the experience of these mothers, which is why the choice was to think about how the diagnosis can impact them in particular. Undertaking research that takes these women's experiences into account is necessary in the current scenario. The aim of this research project is to understand how the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts on the mothers of children with this nosographic condition; it has a qualitative exploratory nature and is intended to be undertaken through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, based on the psychoanalytic theoretical framework.By exploring the maternal experience in relation to the child's diagnosis of ASD, the aim is to broaden the considerations about the disorder and its impact on the family and, in particular, on the mothers. Carrying out this research through interviews with mothers means adopting a position of ethical listening that considers the discourse and perception of these women.Making efforts to broaden our understanding of how autism and its diagnosis affect the mothers of these children is an important research tool, as it follows the more contemporary trend in psychoanalysis of considering the multiplicity of factors involved in the etiology of autism, as it is understood that the mother-baby relationship is a dynamic feedback relationship, where both affect and are affected; thus, the dyad relationship can be considered when thinking about autism.