TY - JOUR
T1 - The Nature of Family Meals
T2 - A New Vision of Families of Children with Autism
AU - Curtiss, Sarah L.
AU - Ebata, Aaron T.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the families who participated in the study, The Autism Program affiliate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and our undergraduate research assistants (especially Elyse Marks, Caroline Stevens, and Rachel Wurtzel).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/2/15
Y1 - 2019/2/15
N2 - Families with children on the autism spectrum are often viewed in terms of their deficits rather than their strengths. Family meals are portrayed as sources of stress and struggle for parents and children. In this study, we take a resilience perspective to challenge underlying assumptions and get a more accurate picture of the nature of shared family meals. In-depth interviews were conducted and mealtimes were video recorded with 16 families for this thematic analysis. We identified four themes as being particularly salient to the mealtime experience: (1) schools and homework, (2) managing eating, (3) chores, and (4) intimate conversations. Our results elucidate the context of mealtimes as a site where parents struggle, yet negotiate, the challenges of everyday family life.
AB - Families with children on the autism spectrum are often viewed in terms of their deficits rather than their strengths. Family meals are portrayed as sources of stress and struggle for parents and children. In this study, we take a resilience perspective to challenge underlying assumptions and get a more accurate picture of the nature of shared family meals. In-depth interviews were conducted and mealtimes were video recorded with 16 families for this thematic analysis. We identified four themes as being particularly salient to the mealtime experience: (1) schools and homework, (2) managing eating, (3) chores, and (4) intimate conversations. Our results elucidate the context of mealtimes as a site where parents struggle, yet negotiate, the challenges of everyday family life.
KW - Autism spectrum disorders
KW - Family processes
KW - Mealtimes
KW - Picky eating
KW - Resilience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052663608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85052663608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-018-3720-9
DO - 10.1007/s10803-018-3720-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 30136117
AN - SCOPUS:85052663608
SN - 0162-3257
VL - 49
SP - 441
EP - 452
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
IS - 2
ER -