Everything in nursing should be based on research and motivated by the desire to provide better care. Even if we do not consider ourselves researchers, we may be involved in critiquing and assimulating evidence about nursing care and practice.
The author of this article, a nursing student, proposes a model of support for families in which children have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition. The proposed six-stage model, which is based on the author’s personal experience as the mother of two sons who have autism, is designed to help parents move from the sense of bewilderment that often follows a diagnosis of autism to a sense of empowerment, thereby increasing the chances of normal life for their children.