Abstract:

The main focus of the research is to follow and describe the role and function of parents during the therapy of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how parents can be supported in this area.

The topic of the role of the parent and the possibility of his support during the therapy of children with ASD is a very important and urgent topic. Currently, there is a great emphasis on the involvement of parents in the therapeutic process, as it is scientifically proven that this increases the effectiveness of the therapeutic intervention and increases the chances of maximizing the child's potential in the future. The issue of autism is becoming more and more prominent and the number of children with this type of disorder has increased considerably in recent years. It is therefore a topic of great social importance and urgency. Research clearly indicates that early, targeted intervention is essential and active parental involvement and persistence in this process can be very helpful. The current project has strong application potential. The findings may contribute to innovating techniques and ways of supporting parents of children with ASD during therapy. The results may also serve to better understand and use the role of the parent and the possibility of supporting the parent during the therapy of children with ASD.

The main goal of the research is to map the role of the parents and the possibilities of their support during the therapy of children with ASD. A sub-task is to describe how parents perceive the progress of their children with ASD and how their attitude towards this progress and the therapy itself changes. I am also interested in what parents use to cope when these advances are not being made and what helps them to stay in the therapeutic process and not give up their trust in therapy.

Main research questions:
- How do parents perceive their child's progress with autism?
- How do parents' attitudes towards their child's progress with autism and towards the therapy itself change over the course of therapy?
- What does the parent use to cope with situations when these advances are not being made, and what helps the parent to stay in the therapeutic process and not give up trusting the therapy?

Methodology:
Considering the research problem, qualitative research has been chosen based on observation, interviews with parents and subsequent analysis of both online consultations with parents of children with ASD and videos from the child's home environment.
A total number is about 10 parents of children with autism.
Due to the nature of this type of qualitative research, grounded theory has been chosen for data analysis.

Interpretation/preliminary results:
The appreciation of cognitive factors associated with parental competence and satisfaction is increasingly evident in modern research. In particular, parents' belief in their own competence has emerged as a strong direct predictor of specific positive parenting practices and a mediator of the influence of some of the most extensively studied elements of parenting quality. Parents' hopes and beliefs about their own abilities represent an estimate of the extent to which parents perceive themselves as capable of performing the various tasks associated with this demanding role. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders often feel ineffective in parenting, yet are very keen to positively influence their children's development.

Keywords:

Autism spectrum disorder, children, parents, therapy, support.