Coping strategies of mothers with children with autism spectrum disorders living in Indonesia during COVID-19

This study aimed to explore the experience of learning coping strategies from home carried out by mothers who have autistic children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Six mothers who have autistic children of school age were taken as informants, and they were interviewed online. The collected data was then analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study show six themes related to the experience of learning coping strategies from home carried out by mothers who have autism spectrum disorders children, during the COVID-19 pandemic: knowing information on how to educate children is half a win from the ability to adapt. Also, to succeed, a person must: have many issues but maintain self-control; recognize that parents have an obligation to educate their children; know when a burden is too great to be eased gradually; and the greatest person to rely on is God, who is sufficient as an assistance. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; coping strategies; COVID-19; learning from home; mothers