Abstract
Wing and Gould (1979) have identified the passive attitudes of children with autism spectrum disorder. However, negative aspects of this passivity have not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was to clarify the mechanism by which passivity becomes inflexible before puberty. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews of 11 parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and passive attitudes. The data were analyzed by the modified Grounded Theory Approach, and extracted 15 concepts and 6 categories. It was revealed that there was a unique state called “the child can do something when feeling compelled.” In this state, the children could not initiate their desired actions but were able to follow their parents' requests. As a result, they became more passive. This was also related to a fragile sense of self. In terms of parent-child transactions, parents would feel particular distress and so they played a role in children's passivity. There were some limitations to the preceding model, e.g., a biased sample, which should be addressed in future research.
