The COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America exacerbated the caregiving burden on mothers of children with ASD and their involvement in remote classes (Madrid et al., 2021). However, Latin American countries offered scant assistance to mothers of children with ASD, predominantly confining their support to initiatives like family, parental, or childhood leave, exemplified in instances such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Cuba (Bergallo, 2021).

Recent findings from Chile indicate that 76.2 % of children with disabilities are cared for by their mothers (National Disability Service [SENADIS], 2022). This situation contributes markedly to the deterioration of maternal mental health, given the multifaceted demands encompassing physical, psychological, and economic aspects. According to Pozo Cabanillas et al. (2006), this challenge is further intensified for mothers of children with ASD, owing to the distinctive characteristics of the disorder. This predicament was notably accentuated during the pandemic, as the constraints of remote learning impeded the delivery of adequate pedagogical support to students with ASD. Consequently, this led to a profound disruption of their routines and the emergence of additional support needs in both familial and educational domains (Cahapay, 2022; Genova et al., 2021; Ozsivadjian et al., 2023).

As a result of the increased time devoted by mothers to the care of children with ASD, various studies emphasize not only the decline in the mental health of caregivers but also the manifestation of physical impairments, including bodily pain, reduced vitality, and overall health deterioration. The relationship between physical and emotional difficulties is notably evident in these instances (Restrepo et al., 2023; Silvestre Paula et al., 2020).

During the COVID-19 confinement in 2020, face-to-face teaching around the world was affected, as it underwent a rapid transition to distance education as a strategy to prevent the spread of the virus (Paz-Maldonado et al., 2021; Van Lancker y Parolin, 2020; Viner et al., 2020). However, this strategy was not beneficial for everyone; due to their condition, students with ASD may require particular assistance in their learning process (Genova et al., 2021). Different studies show that families of children with ASD report high dissatisfaction with schooling during this academic stage (Adams, 2022; García et al., 2022; Kouroupa et al., 2022).

Distance learning limited the pedagogical support provided to students with ASD, which led to changes in their life routines and drastically affected their mental health; as such, additional family and educational support was required (Cahapay, 2022; Genova et al., 2021; Ozsivadjian et al., 2023). In addition, another aspect that displeased the families of students with ASD was the lack of follow-up of special education programs and the quality of the academic development experienced during the pandemic (Stankovic et al., 2022; Tokatly Latzer et al., 2021; Valdez et al., 2021). Likewise, many health services provided to this population were suspended, negatively affecting family well-being (Pérez Liz et al., 2022).

On the other hand, many teachers had limited training and access to digital skills and resources (Acuña-Gamboa et al., 2023; Fernández-Río et al., 2022); this restricted the support available to students with ASD and their families (Baten et al., 2022). In the case of special schools, the picture was different since individualized teaching plans were built to face this problematic transition (Hurwitz et al., 2022).

Despite the obstacles faced by families, some research reports positive results for students with ASD regarding distance learning using technological resources (Bozkus-Genc and Sani-Bozkurt, 2022; Meral, 2022; Simpson and Adams, 2022); this was related to several factors: higher grades, diverse opportunities for socialization and fewer distractions in the process of learning a second language (Briceño, 2022). Also, family relationships, mutual learning between parents and children, and the professional relationships between families/caregivers and teachers were strengthened (Degli Espinosa et al., 2020; Hurwitz et al., 2022; Meral, 2022; Roitsch et al., 2021). In turn, some students with high levels of ASD achieved significant advances in their school and personal development (Hurwitz et al., 2022), which suggests that distance education could be an alternative in the future to enroll students with ASD (Cahapay, 2022; Majoko and Dudu, 2022), but more scientific evidence is still needed.

For students with ASD, educational centers represent a context of learning academic, social, and life skills (Stenhoff et al., 2020). During the COVID-19 confinement, the families of students with ASD played an essential role in the education of their children, facing difficulties that led them to reorganize their daily activities, despite the high levels of stress and deterioration of emotional well-being they faced as a result of the lockdown (Alhuzimi, 2021; Coelho-Medeiros et al., 2022; Degli Espinosa et al., 2020; Manning et al., 2020). Due to this situation, they reinvented new ways of supporting their children; for example, involving them in domestic chores to prepare them for life (Cahapay, 2022; Majoko and Dudu, 2022).

In addition, to mitigate disruptive behaviors, some families took short walks or excursions to show their children that the population was confined to their homes due to restrictions (Majoko and Dudu, 2022). Similarly, families accompanied the educational process with certain conceptual, methodological, and technological limitations (Ramos García, 2023), constantly requesting help from teachers who provided audiovisual resources with guidelines on educational topics (Daulay, 2021).

This research is based on a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive approach with a phenomenological design (Bisquerra, 2009). This methodological framework was used to collect, categorize, interpret, and analyze the perceptions that mothers of students with ASD have regarding distance education and family coexistence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sample consisted of 17 mothers of students with ASD belonging to regular educational establishments in the Maule Region, Chile. Participants were selected through a non-probabilistic strategy, using convenience sampling based on availability (Cossio-Bolaños, 2015). The criteria for selection were: 1) having a son or daughter, 12 to 17 years old, 2) that their children attended distance learning classes in regular educational centers during the pandemic (2020-2021), and 3) having a medical diagnosis of ASD given at least one year before the data collection began. Both fathers and mothers were invited to participate. However, only the latter agreed to participate voluntarily in the study. The background of the selected participants is described in Table 1.

Concerning the ethical aspects of the research, the rights and integrity of the participants were protected, and the voluntary nature of their collaboration and the confidentiality and privacy of the information provided were explained. Consequently, all the ethical criteria established in the Helsinki Convention regarding the anonymity and confidentiality of the data, as explained in the informed consent accepted by the participants, were met (Opazo, 2011).

The technique used to collect information was the semi-structured interview for which a script consisting of 10 questions was developed. Two experts in the area validated the interview script: an academic specialist in qualitative methodology and another in ASD. Some examples of the questions included in the interview are: “What is your opinion regarding the online classes provided by your child’s school?”, “What characteristics should distance education have for a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder?”, “How did your family cope with the new modality of online classes?”, “What expectations do you have as a family regarding your child’s educational and employment future?”. At the same time, the instrument collected the sociodemographic background of the interviewees, such as kinship, age, occupation, and level of education.

First, informed consent was given to each participant, ensuring confidentiality in collecting and processing the data. Secondly, a pilot test of the semi-structured interview was applied to detect inconsistencies, the accuracy of instructions, and the duration of the interviews. Finally, the interviews were conducted by telephone or through the Zoom® platform and recorded for later transcription. A qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the opinions and experiences of the mothers of students with ASD regarding distance classes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.

The systematization process was carried out manually, taking into account the elements proposed by Mayring (2014):

Regarding the modality of distance education carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chilean mothers mostly expressed negative opinions. The format in which this type of teaching was developed, the use of technological devices and new resources/platforms, the lack of teacher/student interaction, the scarce support provided in the teaching-learning processes, the adaptation to teleworking of the parents of children with ASD, and perceived discrimination received were some of the factors that influenced the negative perceptions of Chilean mothers, as evidenced in the following quotes:

However, other mothers presented favorable opinions on this educational modality in Chile. Those opinions were more focused on how comfortable their children felt with how they were taught. In some cases, confinement conditions allowed students to be more focused and motivated in their academic development. Different participants commented:

Regarding the effectiveness of distance education, the mothers stated that it was not optimal since the gaps generated by this type of education fell directly on them. In turn, their lack of pedagogical training negatively influenced the preparation of their children. Despite this, there were positive opinions based mainly on the development of autonomous learning, the educational support of families, and the possibility of having suitable spaces to develop academic activities. The following quotations capture these points of view:

Yes, they were effective. He focused more when there were no external stimuli and concentrated better on the teachers’ teaching. (Participant 10).

Regarding the characteristics that online education should consider when aimed at students with ASD, mothers generally mentioned some recommendations: greater support, better organization in the class schedule, courses with a smaller number of students, less extensive educational days, and more personalized attention. Consequently, the confinement evidenced limitations in the pedagogical practices carried out in the regular establishments, which caused interruptions in these students’ learning. Some participants expressed:

Regarding how the family faced the health crisis caused by COVID-19, the mothers participating in this research provided multiple opinions that reflected situations of uncertainty, fear, stress, and frustration since the accompaniment of educational processes became a direct responsibility of the families of students with ASD. Likewise, some mothers had to deal with several difficulties: internet connectivity, extensive workloads, and the absence of spaces for their children to receive their classes daily, damaging the family dynamics. Some mothers commented:

On the other hand, as a consequence of remote working, some mothers managed to support their sons and daughters constantly. They also acquired better technological resources to facilitate learning, as evidenced in the following quotations:

When considering the dynamic between family relationships and confinement, most mothers of students with ASD confirmed that physical and communicative distance, mobilization problems, and family discussions were manifested through disruptive behaviors such as anxiety and stress. At the same time, there was a reduction in mental attention for mothers and students with ASD, a situation that increased the crisis within the home. Different participants commented:

On the contrary, a minority of mothers argue that the confinement was beneficial to refocus their work life and cultivate family moments that allowed them to know their children’s condition in greater detail and accompany the teaching-learning processes. Participants exposed that:

Most of the mothers in this study stated that schools did not implement inclusive school practices for students with ASD. In this regard, they believe that schools decided to reduce the academic demands because they did not have the necessary tools to face the health crisis. Some participants argued:

On the contrary, a few participants commented that their schools carried out inclusive practices to facilitate learning, such as constant feedback, the implementation of curricular adjustments, the attention of teachers in academic spaces, the delivery of adapted materials, and teacher accompaniment to achieve better learning.

With regard to good practices implemented by schools in the context of distance learning, almost all the mothers identified the following: prioritization of content in the different subjects, support in providing technological devices to students with limited economic resources, using videoconferences, the use of new forms of teaching, adjusting the rhythm of the courseload, providing printed materials, showing respect for privacy by not forcing the camera to be switched on during videoconferences, using different platforms to organize upcoming tasks, openness to dialogue between students and teachers, ease of carrying out the assigned activities and improvement of communication between mothers and the staff. These quotes substantiate the previous statements:

On the other hand, different participants stated that schools did not make correct decisions that benefited their children’s learning during confinement. They attributed this to the scarce pedagogical support and the lack of diverse actions to generate inclusion, which demotivated students.

In general terms, mothers of children with ASD were optimistic that their children could access university or technical education or achieve what they set out to do. According to participants, family accompaniment is vital so students with ASD can become self-confident and share their competencies with society. These concerns are evident in the following quotes:

However, several of the participants expressed their concern about the educational future of their children. The health emergency produced discouragement, given that there was an evident setback in socialization processes in face-to-face teaching. The confinement generated uncertainty, and this directly affected the students with ASD along with their families as a result of not knowing the time it would take to return to normality. The following quotes present such opinions:

Related to job expectations in general, mothers indicated that they visualize an uncertain future for their children with ASD since disruptive behaviors, lack of socialization, and insufficient progress in the development of skills would limit, according to them, the ability to perform in this area. In addition, with the quarantine during COVID-19, the possibility to share and socialize with others was scarce.

Finally, several participants reported that their children had previous successful work experiences. This gives them confidence regarding their children’ future, despite society not being knowledgeable on ASD-related topics. Such social unawareness is considered an obstacle for ASD children soon to become adults, as indicated in the following interview fragments: