‘A thorn in my heart’: Narratives of systemic burdens and gendered suffering in Chinese autism parenting discourse

Autism parenting in China is shaped by a distinct sociocultural landscape where evolving awareness intersects with entrenched Confucian familism. While the parenting experience is multifaceted, this study conducts a targeted analysis of narratives of burden and suffering as they appear in autism parenting discourse on Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese social media platform. Through a qualitative, metaphor-led discourse analysis of 55 posts, we identify and analyze three key themes within the register of hardships: (1) Battlefront, where war and economic metaphors convey profound distrust of a privatized intervention industry perceived as profit-oriented; (2) Care Crisis, where spatial and gendered metaphors articulate maternal despair, financial ruin, and self-erasure; and (3) Familial Disruption, where dehumanizing and Buddhist metaphors frame autism as a generational catastrophe. Metaphors like “a thorn in my heart” and “three-generation butterfly effect” are not merely linguistic flourishes; they function as culturally resonant narratives of parental distress and resistance. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a critical elision in parental discourse, where metaphors of the child as a burden coexist with social critique, illustrating how the child's condition becomes the locus how the child's condition becomes the locus for experiencing structural constraints. By centering these expressions of systemic and gendered suffering, our findings highlight an urgent need for multi-tiered reforms, including expanded state support and culturally tailored anti-stigma initiatives, to address the profound burdens faced by these families.