Gambaran Kecerdasan Emosional Orang Tua yang Mempunyai Anak Autis di Kecamatan Tembalang, Banyumanik, dan Gayamsari Semarang

Abstract

Parents of children with autism have higher stress than those who have children with other special needs. High levels of stress in these parents can disturb their emotion towards the children. An uncontrolled emotion can cause the children to have a low self-esteem and withdraw themselves from their environment. These negative impacts can be minimized when the parents have good emotional intelligence. This study aimed to describe the emotional intelligence of the parents of children with autism in Tembalang, Banyumanik, and Gayamsari sub-districts of Semarang. This study used descriptive design of the survey using a questionnaire of emotional intelligence. The sampling technique used was total sampling, which involved 91 parents as the respondents. The data were analyzed using univariate analysis. The results showed that the majority of the parents of children with autism had a moderate level of emotional intelligence (72.5%). The findings in this study are expected to be a consideration by the stakeholders to provide program support to parents to share experiences and provide support among those parents of children with autism. Keyword: emotional intelligence, autism, parents