Abstract
Background:
The autistic community have called for an increase in autism research exploring the lifespan experiences of autistic people. Researchers have notably neglected the parenting experiences of autistic adults. We aimed to study the factors that impact the mental health of autistic parents. We also explored the possible influence of childhood trauma.
Methods:
Nine autistic parents took part in remote semi-structured interviews. We used participants' chosen communication modalities during interviews to facilitate accessibility. We carried out data analysis using the principles of Iterative Phenomenological Analysis, a qualitative approach where meaning is co-constructed by both the participant's interpretation of their personal experience and the researcher's subjective interpretation.
Results:
We identified three superordinate themes: Identity and Purpose; Looking Through a Lens of Trauma; and External Factors. Our participants described intimate connections with their children, who were sources of love and joy. Their childhood trauma influenced their parenting experiences. They experienced extreme empathy, perfectionism, and a drive to protect their children from the same trauma. We found that professionals' acceptance and awareness of autism was essential for positive outcomes during interactions with participants. Participants also experienced pervasive sensory overload from their environments, related to a loss of trusted coping mechanisms when they became parents.
Conclusions:
Our study draws attention to the influence of childhood trauma on the parenting experience of autistic adults. We reveal an unexplored long-term impact of childhood trauma resulting from a lack of support and othering of autistic children. Professionals should consider that autistic parents may be parenting through a lens of historical trauma. Professionals should be trained in trauma-informed approaches for providing support. Researchers should investigate this phenomenon to explore how this knowledge can be used to inform practise. Researchers should also investigate wider systemic and societal issues that have an impact on the mental health of autistic parents.
Community brief
Why is this an important issue?
Only a few research studies explore the individual experiences of autistic parents. That means that we do not know a lot about which parts of parenting can make autistic adults feel happy or unhappy with themselves or their lives. So, we do not always know how to help them feel better when they are unhappy or upset and they may end up feeling even worse.
What was the purpose of this study?
We wanted to find out which parts of parenting can make autistic adults feel happy or unhappy. We also wanted to know whether having bad experiences as children (childhood trauma) changed how autistic adults thought and felt about being parents. We planned to use the results of our study to make suggestions for ways that professionals can help autistic parents and their families to enjoy their lives and be happy.
What did the researchers do?
We spoke to nine autistic parents (the participants) and asked them about their experiences. We recorded these conversations and wrote them down word for word. We looked at the conversations closely to try to discover whether any of their experiences were similar.
What were the results of the study?
Participants had very close relationships with their children. Their children made them happy. Our participants could easily understand what their autistic children needed. Contact with schools and health professionals were very stressful for our participants. They felt that professionals and schools did not understand autism or how to help them.
Our participants spoke to us about their childhood trauma. The people around them did not always accept them, because they were different. They were bullied and made to feel bad about themselves. These experiences were still impacting their lives as adults. Our participants really wanted to make sure that their children did not have the same bad childhood experiences that they had.
What do these findings add to what was already known?
Autistic children can experience childhood trauma when the people around them do not accept and understand them. This is the first time that we have seen how this autism-related childhood trauma could affect the way that autistic people experience being a parent. We have suggested that professionals need to think about this childhood trauma when helping autistic parents with mental health difficulties.
Our findings add to the evidence that autistic parents are loving and dedicated and work hard to ensure the best for their children.
What are the potential weaknesses in the study?
Most of our participants were female and white, so we cannot say that these results apply to all autistic parents. All participants were diagnosed after becoming parents. It is possible that experiences may be different for autistic parents who were diagnosed as children.
How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?
Our findings are important to professionals who support autistic parents and their children. Professionals can provide the right kind of support to help autistic parents thrive if they are aware that childhood trauma can influence autistic parents' experiences.
Our findings also show schools and professionals that autistic parents have a lot of parenting strengths that should be recognized and valued.
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