child’s success, which in turn drove their
determination to help their child overcome it.
In relation to this, another value underpinning
this medical model construction of
autism came from the implicit emphasis on
perceived social hierarchy and status in
South Asian countries. Parents discussed
how they had come from a society where
‘social status’ is key and the measurement of
effective parenting often comes from the
successes of children. Some parents talked
about how family success is more likely to be
measured in economic terms or job status
and that high earnings and wealth are
deemed important markers of this. Parents
suggested that although class structures exist
in most societies, there is perhaps something
unique about the extent to which social hierarchy
is functional in countries such as India
and Pakistan and an example put forward
was the caste system.
A significant theme that emerged and
that was hypothesised to stem from beliefs
that might be more likely to occur in South
Asian families, is the clear emphasis placed
on the elevated role of the family rather that
the role of the state. One parent discussed
how in India there are ‘no services, so we can
only rely on the family’ compared to the UK
where ‘the government is providing the
service so the system is there’. Another
parent discussed that whatever problems
might occur in India, ‘the family just have to
deal with it’ and this embeds a strong sense
‘that we can deal with it on our own’. In the
context of this grounded theory, a tendency
to look inwards rather than towards professionals
or support services might make it
easier to understand why parents are more
likely to construct autism as a medical term
that they can overcome and ‘deal with’. One
parent went as far as to say that South Asian
parents will tend to treat social science
professionals with ‘fear and suspicion’ and
this might be because of a lack of understanding
of what they actually do. Furthermore
it was found that there was often a
refusal from parents to engage with nonmedical
professionals that had an expertise
or specialism in autism and one parent
thought this might be due to a suspicion that
they could be identified as ‘bad parents’.
Nearly all of the parents stated a preference
to ‘deal with it on our own’ in a manner they
thought was best.
An important theme that aided understanding
of this dominant medical model
view of autism was beliefs about disability
that were most prevalent in South Asian
countries and consequently South Asian
‘communities’ in the UK. During the discussions
some parents were able to reflect more
generally on ‘fear’, ‘stigma’ and ‘prejudice’
that underpins attitudes towards disability in
South Asian cultures and that this was the
dominant view of disability and impairment.
One parent went as far as to say disability ‘is
the last form of prejudice’ that is ‘never
talked about’ in most cultures, however this
is especially evident in more traditional
countries such as India. Another parent
reflected on what she thought her son’s life
might have been like if her family still lived
in Sri Lanka:
‘He would have been left literally indoors, very
protected but not allowed to think for himself.
Because you’d be seen and judged and taunted
and abused, so they’d be kind of scared to let
him out and equally aware of people’s
prejudices.’
This idea of concealing disability was
discussed widely by the parents and one
described it as a ‘Catch 22 situation’ in Asian
communities because disability is something
that is ‘kept indoors and then as a result
nobody has to deal with it because it’s not
out in the community’. This potential
tendency in South Asian families to ‘keep
disability indoors’ would mean that
inevitably exposure to disability would be
minimal and, therefore, knowledge and
acceptance of people with disabilities is less
likely to be advocated or encouraged. In
terms of the present theoretical model this
might make it easier to understand why a
medical understanding of autism is preferable,
as medical diagnoses are not treated
with the same fear and prejudice and there