Navigating Complex Change: Parental Experiences of Raising Autistic Adolescents in Military Families

Autistic individuals benefit from consistency and stability in their day to day lives to maximise their wellbeing and engagement. Yet, for non-serving parents of autistic adolescents in military families, creating predictable routines can be challenging due to relocations resulting in changes in the home, school, and social environment. In addition, non-serving parents' experience periods of solo parenting when their serving partner is on large-scale military deployments and through extended absences during the working week. This doctoral research study focuses on raising an autistic adolescent child, as perceived by a non-serving military parent, who experiences frequent periods of solo parenting alongside navigating relocations across healthcare boundaries within the United Kingdom (U.K.) and internationally. The aim of the study was to understand the lived experiences of non-serving military parents raising an autistic adolescent child within the U.K. Armed Forces.
This study was conducted by an insider researcher; a military spouse with lived experience of supporting an autistic adolescent, alongside their occupational therapy professional experience of working with families with a range of disabilities, including autism. The study applies a qualitative narrative informed methodological framework, using two semi-structured interviews, approximately six months apart, exploring the experiences of diagnosis, transition, assistance, coping, and change within the family dynamics. Eighteen mothers of autistic adolescents between the ages of 13-25 years, whose husbands were serving in the U.K. Armed Forces, participated in the study. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis; themes were aggregated which allowed for the capture of the non-serving military parents' experiences. Awareness of insider researcher bias, regular supervisor debriefings along with reflexive journalling were undertaken to enhance trustworthiness. The study findings highlight the struggles and triumphs of these participants; the attributes needed to succeed; and the wider contextual pressures on the non-serving parents, which shape their skill development and choices regarding family stability. The study reveals the practical adaptations required within their daily lives to accommodate their military lifestyle and the psychological and social aspects of assisting the needs of their autistic adolescents in military families.
The research contributes to the wider discourse on resilience in military families and offers insights that inform family support systems, health and education professionals and potentially influence future policy and provision of care from service organisations. A model is provided to guide professionals in understanding the needs of this population group. Ultimately, this thesis seeks to amplify the voices of this hidden population, helping to develop a greater understanding of their experiences and aspirations for their autistic sons and daughters.