More than 30 percent of fathers of grown children with autism
experience symptoms of depression so severe that they warrant
clinical attention, first-of-its-kind research indicates. In a
study presented Friday at the International Meeting for Autism
Research in San Diego, researchers found that fathers of
adolescents and young adults with autism experience high levels
of depression and are pessimistic about what the future holds
for their son or daughter, much more so than dads whose kids
have other disabilities like Down syndrome and fragile X.
“Fathers of adolescents and young adults with autism are really
faring the worst,” says Sigan Hartley, a University of
Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study, which was
recently accepted for publication in the journal Family
Relations. Hartley said her findings mirror what researchers
already know about mothers of those with autism — that they
experience higher stress than other moms and that stress remains
even as their children age. But this is the first tim