'Somali parents feel like they're on the outer': Somali mothers' experiences of parent-teacher relationships for their autistic children.

Researchers interviewed 15 Somali mothers about their experiences with schools and teachers for their autistic children. The mothers loved their children and had high hopes for them, but felt frustrated because teachers expected too little from their kids. Schools weren't good at talking with families, and many teachers didn't know much about autism. Some mothers also faced racism.

Despite these challenges, the mothers were working hard to teach their community about autism and help their children succeed.

This qualitative study examined parent-teacher relationships through interviews with 15 Somali mothers of autistic children. Mothers reported experiencing low teacher expectations, poor school communication, limited autism-specific expertise, and racist attitudes toward their children. Despite facing stigma and resource limitations, mothers maintained high expectations for their children's independence and actively worked to increase autism awareness within their community. Key barriers included language difficulties, discrimination, and unfamiliarity with education systems.

Mothers found support through their daughters and religious beliefs while proactively advocating for better understanding and support for autistic children in educational settings.

Schools need culturally responsive practices, improved communication strategies, and enhanced autism-specific training. Supporting parent advocacy and community education may improve outcomes. Addressing both autism stigma and cultural discrimination is essential for equitable educational experiences for culturally diverse autistic children.

Small sample size of 15 mothers from one cultural community limits generalizability. Qualitative design provides rich insights but cannot establish causal relationships. Study focuses specifically on Somali experiences, which may not apply to other culturally diverse families.

Good relationships between parents and schools can improve autistic children's school success. There are many reasons why families from different cultural backgrounds find it harder to develop good relationships with schools, such as language barriers, discrimination and unfamiliarity with education systems. We know little about what 'good relationships' look like for these families. Here, we worked with a team of autistic and non-autistic researchers as well as an Advisory Group of Somali parents to conduct interviews with 15 Somali mothers of kindergarten and school-age autistic children.

We asked mothers about their experiences of their child's education, communication with teachers and what a good relationship with schools would look like. We also asked how they felt the Somali community understood autism. We looked for common things that mothers said. We found that mothers were very proud of their children.

They had high expectations, particularly about what children could do by themselves. Mothers found it frustrating that teachers had low expectations, that schools were not good at communicating with them and that autism-specific skills and experience were uncommon in schools. They also reported racist attitudes towards their children. Mothers experienced stigma and lacked resources, but support was gained from their daughters and their religion.

Mothers themselves were proactively increasing community awareness and knowledge about autism in the hope that they and their autistic children would be valued and better supported. Our work has implications for how teachers and schools can work together with Somali parents to forge better futures for autistic children.