Navigating fragmented and contingent support: A qualitative study of British Armed Forces families raising neurodivergent children
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Cognitive Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- 2School of Psychology, Sports Science and Wellbeing, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
- 3Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- 4Vice Chancellor’s Office, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
Abstract
British Armed Forces families raising neurodivergent children must coordinate health, education, welfare and informal support within a service context characterised by mobility and deployment. This study examined how families understood, accessed and sustained support, and how these processes shaped caregiving and family life. Twelve parents and caregivers of children aged 3–17 years with diagnosed or suspected neurodevelopmental conditions participated in online semi-structured interviews. Guided by critical realism, data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis showed that support was experienced less as a stable entitlement than as a contingent achievement. Relocation repeatedly interrupted clinical, diagnostic and educational pathways. Parents consequently became continuity brokers who carried records, rebuilt professional relationships and repeatedly legitimised their children's needs. Military welfare and informal networks could provide meaningful practical and emotional help, but access depended heavily on local knowledge, individual champions and geographic proximity. Advocacy generated occupational, financial and emotional costs that were often gendered. Deployment further redistributed care, disrupted routines and reverberated across caregiver wellbeing, child regulation and serving personnel's work. Parents also described meaning, pride and solidarity, while resisting uses of “resilience” that shifted responsibility from systems to families. These findings identify a policy-implementation gap: commitments to avoid service-related disadvantage do not consistently translate into portable, neurodiversity-informed support. Greater continuity across postings, transparent inter-agency handovers, knowledgeable welfare provision and deployment-sensitive respite are required.
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BibTeX
@article{kargas2026navigating,
title = {{Navigating fragmented and contingent support: A qualitative study of British Armed Forces families raising neurodivergent children}},
author = {Niko Kargas and Mirena Dimolareva and Stamatina Tsiora and Anum Farooq and Victoria L. Brelsford and Holly Stocks and Ella Doolan-Dransfield and Julian Free},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0358595},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358595},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Navigating fragmented and contingent support: A qualitative study of British Armed Forces families raising neurodivergent children
AU - Niko Kargas
AU - Mirena Dimolareva
AU - Stamatina Tsiora
AU - Anum Farooq
AU - Victoria L. Brelsford
AU - Holly Stocks
AU - Ella Doolan-Dransfield
AU - Julian Free
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0358595
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358595
AB - British Armed Forces families raising neurodivergent children must coordinate health, education, welfare and informal support within a service context characterised by mobility and deployment. This study examined how families understood, accessed and sustained support, and how these processes shaped caregiving and family life. Twelve parents and caregivers of children aged 3–17 years with diagnosed or suspected neurodevelopmental conditions participated in online semi-structured interviews. Guided by critical realism, data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis showed that support was experienced less as a stable entitlement than as a contingent achievement. Relocation repeatedly interrupted clinical, diagnostic and educational pathways. Parents consequently became continuity brokers who carried records, rebuilt professional relationships and repeatedly legitimised their children's needs. Military welfare and informal networks could provide meaningful practical and emotional help, but access depended heavily on local knowledge, individual champions and geographic proximity. Advocacy generated occupational, financial and emotional costs that were often gendered. Deployment further redistributed care, disrupted routines and reverberated across caregiver wellbeing, child regulation and serving personnel's work. Parents also described meaning, pride and solidarity, while resisting uses of “resilience” that shifted responsibility from systems to families. These findings identify a policy-implementation gap: commitments to avoid service-related disadvantage do not consistently translate into portable, neurodiversity-informed support. Greater continuity across postings, transparent inter-agency handovers, knowledgeable welfare provision and deployment-sensitive respite are required.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -