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Counselling for parents

Amandajj

Hello everyone, I'm Amanda and a single mum of a 6 year old high functioning little lad.  I am also a trainee counsellor and just about to start a research project.  I am passionate about autism and strongly believe there needs to be more awareness of it. 

My research project is asking the question whether counselling should be available to parents following the diagnosis of autism for their child.  I would be very grateful for any feedback anyone can offer me on this subject.  I have found very little research done on this and would be very grateful for any views you may have.  

If you have any questions for me on this please ask.

Amanda

Parents

  • Hi - as IW has said, most parents are aware their child's is being assessed for autism.  They may come on sites such as this, read relevant books etc to prepare themselves for the diagnosis so they know more about autism + how to best help their child.  There are some parents who go into denial about the diagnosis so whether they wd seek counselling is very debatable.  A minority of parents speak about feeling "bereaved".  The child they expected to have isn't the 1 they got.  So perhaps for this small?? category counselling might be helpful?  I'm not even sure about that, to be honest.  If counselling was available on the nhs, then I think a pathway needs to be worked out about when/if to offer it.  I certainly don't think it should be offered as a matter of course.  Perhaps a minority of parents who feel  bereaved could be identified then that could be mentioned to them?  If someone had offered me counselling after my son was diagnosed it would have made me very upset because the implication is that you need psychological help because your child has been diagnosed as autistic.  What parents need, imo, is useful info + a system that puts the child + family at the heart of what it does so that their "journey" isn't traumatic.  But, don't get me on to that 1 !!

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  • Hi - as IW has said, most parents are aware their child's is being assessed for autism.  They may come on sites such as this, read relevant books etc to prepare themselves for the diagnosis so they know more about autism + how to best help their child.  There are some parents who go into denial about the diagnosis so whether they wd seek counselling is very debatable.  A minority of parents speak about feeling "bereaved".  The child they expected to have isn't the 1 they got.  So perhaps for this small?? category counselling might be helpful?  I'm not even sure about that, to be honest.  If counselling was available on the nhs, then I think a pathway needs to be worked out about when/if to offer it.  I certainly don't think it should be offered as a matter of course.  Perhaps a minority of parents who feel  bereaved could be identified then that could be mentioned to them?  If someone had offered me counselling after my son was diagnosed it would have made me very upset because the implication is that you need psychological help because your child has been diagnosed as autistic.  What parents need, imo, is useful info + a system that puts the child + family at the heart of what it does so that their "journey" isn't traumatic.  But, don't get me on to that 1 !!

Children
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