Family Issues Meeting the complex needs of a person with an ASD can put families under a great deal of stress—emotional, financial, and sometimes even physical. Respite care can give parents and other family caregivers a needed break and help maintain family well-being.
Studies have shown that more than 50% of mothers report a decreased ability to enjoy life as they face the challenges associated with raising a child with ASD. In fact, a low level of social support has been identified as the most powerful predictor of depression and anxiety in the mothers (Boyd, 2002).
Bringing up a child with autism can be challenging for parents, especially when other people do not understand the issues. Children with ASD experience the world differently from most people. They often have difficulty expressing themselves. Sensory issues can affect how they smell, hear, or see things.
Parenting, in general, is far from easy, but parenting a child with autism can be particularly demanding. In my last blog, I shared our journey about what extreme parenting sometimes feels like, and if you're also a parent of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), I want you to know you're not alone.
Anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. Communication challenges. Difficulties with emotional regulation. Executive functioning problems.
Autistic children love their parents
You may have to learn to see how your child expresses affection and not take it personally if your child doesn't show affection in the way that typical children do.
Typically, children with autism also have sensory problems. They may be sensitive to lights, sounds, smells, and textures, or they may seek intense sensory stimulation. Their ability to think and to talk can vary widely. Sometimes people believe that their child cannot have autism because they are highly verbal.
Nearly 1 in 5 parents of kids with autism who participated in a new study had enough symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder to qualify for a provisional diagnosis. The study, which included hundreds of parents of children who are on the spectrum, found that 18.6 percent met criteria for PTSD.
Different studies have found both higher, and lower, divorces rates among parents of children with various disabilities, compared to other parents. Perhaps the largest study to date came down squarely in the middle, which may itself be good news for parents facing a new autism diagnosis.
People with autism experience trauma from a variety of situations. For example, they may experience name-calling, bullying, being taken advantage of, feeling isolated and rejected, and being invalidated by family or friends.
In all, the findings from research suggest that children with autism are capable of forming secure attachments with their caregivers. However, it also suggests that autistic children may be more prone to developing an insecure attachment than typically developing children.
Having an extraordinarily good memory (being able to remember facts for a long period of time). Being precise and detail orientated. Exceptional honesty and reliability. Being dependable in regards to schedules and routines.
Previous studies revealed that mothers of children with ASD reported elevated psychological distress and caregiving burden [15], health-related problems [16], lower levels of resilience [17] and problems in various areas of family life, including marital and sibling relationships and family socialization [18].
Many autistic people enjoy spending time alone and consider it important for their wellbeing. Loneliness is different though. You might feel lonely if you don't have opportunities to socialise, or find this difficult. You might have friends/colleagues but feel misunderstood, or like you cannot be yourself around them.
Does The Father Or Mother Carry The Autism Gene? Autism was always thought to have a maternal inheritance component, however, research suggests that the rarer variants associated with the disorder are usually inherited from the father.
Since autism is less prevalent in females, autism was always thought to be passed down from the mother. However, research suggests that autism genes are usually inherited from the father.
Jealousy in children with autism and their siblings may look different. For their siblings, jealousy can appear as anger or deep sadness and retreat from a typically developing sibling. The most common reason for jealousy is undoubtedly the extra attention that the sibling with autism receives.
Don't say: “You'd never know by looking at her that she has autism! She looks so normal.” While the speaker might view this as a compliment, most parents of a child on the spectrum would not take it as such. Additionally, in the world of autism, the world “normal” is usually replaced with “typical” or “neuro-typical.”
Children with an ASD are not vigilant and do not look up to the caregiver for social referencing. They may not cling to the caregiver, although go up to them for succor. However, some cling to the caregiver because of extreme anxiety.
The answer to the question of whether autistic people can have kids is a resounding yes. Autism does not affect one's ability to conceive or carry a child. However, there are some unique challenges that autistic individuals may face when it comes to parenting.
Main signs of autism
finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling. getting very anxious about social situations. finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own. seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to.
Those in the autism group also demanded more of their mothers' attention and became more inconsolably upset when they were separated from their mothers compared with children in the other two groups. “I do think it's part of autism, this inability to self-soothe,” Goldman says.
Having a family health history of ASD makes you more likely to have a child with ASD, or to have ASD yourself. If you have a child with ASD, you are more likely to have another child with ASD, especially if you have a daughter with ASD or more than one child with ASD.