The hero's story and autism: grounded theory study of websites for parents of children with autism.

Thirty-three websites self-published on the Internet by parents of children with autism were examined using grounded theory. The process that the parents underwent closely follows an outline drawn by Catford and Ray to describe the hero's development. Following diagnosis, parents of children with autism underwent a period of readjustment after which each of the parents described in the study prepared himself or herself for action. In the aftermath, the parents viewed themselves and their offspring in a positive light. At the close of the life narrative, all said they had come to terms with their child's present circumstances and were prepared to help other parents in coping with their children. Our study suggests that the Internet allows stressed parents of children with autism to forge ties among themselves and extricate themselves from their isolation.