Making visible the lived experience of Autistic children and their parents attending emergency departments in Australia: A Qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Autistic children present frequently to emergency departments (ED) but often encounter distressing and exclusionary environments. Parents play a pivotal role during these encounters, yet their voices remain underrepresented in research.Aim: To explore the lived experiences of parents with Autistic children attending the emergency departments in Australia.Methods: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach guided the study. Fourteen parents of Autistic children (under 18 years) participated in semi-structured interviews, analysed thematically using Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model.Findings: Five key themes were identified across ecological systems: (1) parents as experts and navi..