Abstract

This paper examines the value-motivational sphere and psychological well-being of mothers raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Kazakhstan, situating their experiences within broader debates on gender, care, and social support in Central Eurasia. While autism is frequently addressed through medical and educational frameworks, this study argues that the everyday realities of mothers of children with ASD cannot be understood without attention to culturally specific expectations of motherhood, gendered care obligations, and the limited availability of institutional support. In the Kazakhstani context, maternal resilience emerges not simply as an individual psychological trait, but as a socially structured response to uncertainty, stigma, and unequal distributions of emotional and practical labor.

The paper draws on empirical data collected from mothers raising children with ASD in Kazakhstan, including survey-based materials on resilience, social support, and related psychological predictors, as well as a contextual analysis of cultural norms surrounding family responsibility, caregiving, and women’s roles. Methodologically, the study combines psychological analysis with a broader socio-cultural interpretation in order to connect individual experiences to regional patterns of social organization.

The paper argues that the emotional and motivational experiences of these mothers are shaped by an interaction between personal coping resources and external cultural pressures. Preliminary findings indicate that social support functions as a key predictor of resilience, while intolerance of uncertainty, persistent caregiving burden, and normative expectations of self-sacrificing motherhood intensify emotional strain. At the same time, cultural and spiritual values may serve both as sources of meaning and as mechanisms that reinforce gendered responsibility for care.

By focusing on Kazakhstan, this paper contributes to Central Eurasian studies by bringing disability, care, and maternal experience into conversations that have more often centered on nationalism, state-building, or geopolitics. It also contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship on gender and care by showing how autism-related caregiving in Central Eurasia is mediated by local moral worlds, family norms, and uneven support infrastructures.