Parental Acceptance-Rejection and School Involvement among Fathers and Mothers of Children with Autism

Parents of children with autism often manage complex emotional, educational, and caregiving demands, making parental acceptance-rejection and school involvement important constructs in understanding family-school engagement. This study examined the level of parental acceptance-rejection and school involvement among fathers and mothers of children with autism and determined whether these variables differed according to selected child-related characteristics and were significantly associated with one another. Using a quantitative descriptive-correlational design, data were gathered from 73 parents, composed of 33 fathers and 40 mothers, whose children with autism were enrolled in selected special education schools in Lipa City, Tanauan City, and Batangas City. The Parent Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire: Short Form and the Parental Involvement Survey-School Age Special Education were used to measure the core variables. Descriptive statistics, group-difference tests, and correlation analysis were applied. Results showed that most fathers and mothers were classified as accepting of their children, although most were also categorized as not involved in school-related activities. Child gender, birth order, and school level were not significantly associated with parental acceptance-rejection or school involvement. Among fathers, school involvement showed significant negative correlations with hostility/aggression, indifference/neglect, undifferentiated rejection, and total parental acceptance-rejection scores. Among mothers, school involvement was not significantly related to acceptance-rejection scores. The findings suggest that paternal and maternal patterns of school involvement may operate differently in families of children with autism, warranting differentiated family-school engagement strategies.