What is Parent-Professional Collaboration

Culture is very determinative in both the research and treatment of autism. More specifically, when parents become aware that their child is different, when the child begins special education, the developmental problems of the child and how the parents cope with the problems they encounter due to the child being different from their peers may depend on the cultural context of the place where the family lives. This chapter aims to analyze the effects of culture on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents. With this purpose, how communication with the parents of children with autism changes within culture will be discussed. This chapter also analyzes the research in the literature on autism and cultural issues and how it informs us about communication with the families of special needs children.