**1. Introduction**

International experience has demonstrated that children with ASD can be helped and that families are crucial to the success of any interventions. In less affluent countries families play an even more crucial role given the dearth of professionals trained in ASD and appropriate support services [23]. In such countries, indigenous research is crucial to fully appreciate the needs of families and the most relevant means of empowering them to face the challenges posed by their child's condition. The outcomes of these research endeavours can then guide practitioners and policy makers in devising services best suited to local needs. Conceptual Models (CMs) are critical both to guide and validate the style and direction of research studies that are undertaken as well as synthesising key factors in shaping the type of support services provided for families. In this respect CMs have the potential to integrate research and practice.

The reason for considering CMs in any scientific field is to provide an explanation for existing relationships among the phenomena under investigation and to provide insights that may lead to the discovery of new relationships [32]. A Conceptual Model (CM) can be considered to be both as a synthesis of extant knowledge on the topic but also a guide for further studies. Sometimes the phenomena under investigation are so complex that no one CM can exclusively provide the necessary guidance. Research on families-specifically families who have a member with disability-fit into this category. It is the main objective of this chapter to discuss and demonstrate how facing new problems in the course of an evolving programme of research, encourages researchers to further develop their initial CM in order to arrive at a more com‐ prehensive account of the phenomena they are investigating: a necessary outcome in order to guide practitioners in new areas of work such as Autism. Otherwise the risk is that the services they deliver – either as an individual clinician or within a service system such as education – is based on incomplete and out-dated models. The chapter draws on a series of studies

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undertaken by the first author initially for his doctoral thesis but continued in his post-doctoral research. As a clinical psychologist, he had previously worked in services for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities on assessment and rehabilitation programmes.

The study started with two main aims: 1) to enhance current knowledge on the impact of taking care of a child with ASD on family dynamics in Iran; and 2) to help parents in reducing negative effects of raising a child with ASD through short educational courses and extending their social network through providing opportunities for meeting each other. He first undertook a survey of parents' experiences in Tehran to having a child with ASD [21] and how the personal impact on families differed from those with a child who had intellectual disabilities [27]. From this study, an introductory training course on ASD for parents was devised and evaluated [25]. The longer –term impact of such a course was also assessed and the contribution that mutual support from other parents can make to maternal well-being in particular [15]. Further resource materials to inform and guide parents were developed – DVDs, educational packs and the provision of educational materials [27].
