My greatest joy and my greatest heart ache: Parents' own words on how having a child in the autism spectrum has affected their lives and their families' lives

Parents of children in the autism spectrum wrote an open-ended answer via an online questionnaire to the question, How has your child in the autism spectrum affected your life and your family's life? (N = 493). Using a qualitative content analysis, 15 negative themes and 9 positive themes were identified. Themes are subsumed into five clusters: Stress; Child's behavior: Parents' personal well being, work, and marital relationship; Impact on the whole family; and Social isolation. The mix of negative and positive themes is interpreted as a dialectical viewpoint of finding positive meaning to life even while acknowledging the stress and difficulties of having a child with autism. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.