Walk a mile in my shoes : researching the lived experience of mothers of children with autism

In this paper, we describe the methodology, methods and underlying philosophy for our research project-in-progress, which explores the experiences of mothers who have a child with autism. We begin by presenting background relevant to the study, noting that there is little previous research examining (a) how these mothers perceive themselves as mothers and (b) their lived motherhood experiences. Our study aims to give voice to these women by providing them with the opportunity to do so by means of methods specifically tailored to their circumstances. We argue that to achieve our aim, a qualitative research approach, which includes a combination of in-depth interviews and a solicited diary method, is ideally suited for the purposes. It is our contention that it is important for researchers to provide accurate information to the community about mothers who have children with autism, thereby fostering a greater understanding and empathy in society for those involved with or affected by the disability. To this end, it is our intention to present this Practice Paper to stimulate discussion about our approach, which has at its roots phenomenology and feminist theory, and to provide a model for future research.