Introduction
T
HIS PAPER explores the experiences of
South Asian parents that have a child
with autism and considers how culture
may mediate this experience. ‘Culture’ is a
complex term that is difficult to define and
which encompasses a broad range of variables.
The working definition of culture
adopted in the research reported here was
one provided by Ravindran and Myers (2012,
p.311) who refer to culture as something
that, ‘…frames our world view and helps us
make sense of what we know… a dynamic yet
stable set of goals, beliefs and attitudes
shared by a group of people.’ This definition
encompasses both sociological and psychological
factors, whilst other definitions have
focused more on one or the other (e.g.
O’Hagan, 2001). For the purposes of this
research the definition of ‘South Asian’ as
outlined by Bhatia et al. (2008) was used and
they refer to South Asians as people from the
nations of: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
Intersectional thinking underpins the
present research which aimed to explore
how the experience of South Asian parents
who have a child with autism is significantly
different to other parents who have a child
with autism. The term intersectionality was
first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in an
influential paper where she sought to
examine how different power structures can
interact to form a unique struggle for
minorities, especially Black women (Crenshaw,
1989). In feminist theory this term has
been used to examine how the struggles of
women can be shaped by the intersecting
influences of race, gender, sexual orientation
and national origin (Simien & Hancock,
2011) and refers to the crossover (intersection)
of different factors that together create
a unique experience (McCall, 2005). To
date, discussion of intersectionality has
focused almost entirely on the US, leading to
the term being critiqued as only having
utility in this context (Simien & Hancock,
2011) however, it is increasingly being recognised
as an important and relevant concept
in the UK (Goodley, 2011). Although it is
still more likely to be used in the context of