Infantile autism: impact of diagnosis and repercussions in family relationships.

Objective: To analyse the context in which the diagnosis of autism is revealed and the impact of this revelation on family relationships.

Methods: This is a qualitative study with 10 families of autistic children assisted at the Psychosocial Care Centre for Children and Youths in a municipality of Paraíba. Data were collected between July and August 2013 through semi-structured interviews and interpreted using thematic content analysis.