The effects of dohsa-hou: parental perspectives

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Date
2017
Authors
Bang, Seonghwi
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Abstract

Our understanding of autism has changed a great deal since the 1940s. Old ideas about autism, and how to respond to it, have evolved. New ideas about the cause of autism and its treatment have emerged. One challenge for families and educators is to identify the approaches that are appropriate and effective for the children they support. During my Master’s program in South Korea, I was introduced to the use of dohsa-hou as a new and different conceptual approach to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The effectiveness of the approach has been discussed in books (Kumar, Harizuka, Furukawa, Kim, & Kumar, 2005; Kim, Lee, Kwak, & Baek, 2001), in a variety of studies (Kouno, 2005; Konno, 1993; Toya, 2003), and at practical camps sponsored by professionals using the approach. Although it has been used mostly by professionals, parents have been introduced to dohsa-hou and encouraged to use it at home. I want to document and analyze parental perspectives on their experiences with this approach. In this study, I include a discussion on how ASD has been understood, responses to ASD considered from an empirical standpoint, and explain how dohsa-hou relates to other prevalent responses to ASD. To examine parental perspectives on the dohsa-hou approach, I completed in- depth interviews with twenty-one parents who have been using dohsa-hou at least for one year (eleven parents from South Korea and ten parents from Japan). I asked parents if taking part in dohsa-hou affects the relational behaviours of their children with ASD. For example, the perspectives of the parents were sought in order to examine: 1) any possible relationships between the approach and their children’s behaviours such as listening to others, initiating communications, interacting with others, and participating in tasks, and 2) if they thought their children’s self-awareness of their body image and frame changed during and after dohsa-hou (e.g., posture, movement, and bodily self-awareness).

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ASD, dohsa-hou, autism, parental perspectives, approaches
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