Korean-American Mothers’ Perceptions of Self-Determination of Primary School Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

While the literature in the area of self-determination for youth and adolescents is well-developed, research on the acquisition of self-determination behaviours in childhood has been relatively scarce. Given that culturally and linguistically diverse families may have different understandings or definitions of self-determination behaviours, we qualitatively investigated five Korean American mothers’ perceptions and definitions of self-determination education for their children with autism spectrum disorder. Using a phenomenological approach, we analysed data using the constant comparative analysis method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Three main themes were identified: (1) emerging perceptions of self-determination, (2) value conflicts of self-determination, and (3) mothers’ cultural influence on children’s development of self-determination. Implications for research and practices are discussed.