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Being a Mum who has Autism

NAS83873

Recruiting for a Dissertation Study:

Hi, my name is Nicole, and I am a neurodivergent parent. I am a third-year student at Edge Hill University studying psychology. I am looking at how parents with autism spectrum condition experience parenthood for my dissertation. As a neurodivergent parent myself, when I came to research what it would be like becoming a parent, I found very little. I believe research needs to be expanded in this area to not only support and help the community but also wider health professionals. And that mothers who have autism deserve as loud of a voice, especially in the research fields as any other neurotypical mother. Every thing i have came across seems to have been around parenting children with autism, or treating the condition as something to be 'handled', usually attaching quite negative viewpoints to it. I want to explore how those who have children and themselves have autism find parenting. I am going into this as objective as I can be, however I do have t be aware of my own preconceived ideas based upon my own experiences. But ultimately, I want this study to be a parent centred, non-judgmental and open ended study. 

 If you wouldn’t mind giving a 30–60-minute interview with myself and have given birth in the last two years to your first child and are aged 18 or over and are female, please get in touch via my universities email: 24541532@edgehill.ac.uk. I would be extremely grateful for any participation and believe this would shed a light on an experience extremely unique and not talked about enough.

Thank you for reading, I hope to hear from any of you. 

Parents

  • I find this really interesting. I’m an autistic 25yo female who has been weighing up whether or not I want children. Partly because I’m scared of the unknown of not knowing how I will cope with it. I know motherhood is hard enough for anyone regardless of their status but will it add extra pressure and difficulties for someone who is neurodivergent. It would be really handy to have some research and information available from people who have experienced it first hand. 

  • in reply to NAS83854

    This is exactly why I feel so strongly about this research. All research and as a result support is targeted at parents of children with ASD. Rather than parents who are autistic, I believe a lot of this is due to the bias and outdated belief that autistic people do not go on to have children. I am interested in not only these experiences of mothers but also how they have perceived society and the healthcare profession to treat them. 

  • in reply to NAS83873

    In that case I suggest opening the study to include autistic AFAB parents that expands beyond the 2yr old age group because we still have the experience of when they were babies and toddlers, and more. We don't forget our struggles and triumphs and children aren't just under 2 yrs old.
    In fact I have concerns you may get too small a pool of response based on your existing criteria because when I had my child under 2 yrs old the last thing I had time for was taking part in a study when I was already feeling bullied by abelist midwives. Not only would I not have had the energy to do so, but I would have felt too vulnerable to share at that point in my life (and I fear I'm not actually unique in that regard).

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  • in reply to NAS83873

    In that case I suggest opening the study to include autistic AFAB parents that expands beyond the 2yr old age group because we still have the experience of when they were babies and toddlers, and more. We don't forget our struggles and triumphs and children aren't just under 2 yrs old.
    In fact I have concerns you may get too small a pool of response based on your existing criteria because when I had my child under 2 yrs old the last thing I had time for was taking part in a study when I was already feeling bullied by abelist midwives. Not only would I not have had the energy to do so, but I would have felt too vulnerable to share at that point in my life (and I fear I'm not actually unique in that regard).

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