Spectrum Women—Autism and Parenting
This book looks at what it feels like to be an autistic parent, offering valuable insights, knowledge and wisdom on parenting autistic and non-autistic children. Three mothers reflect on their experiences of growing up as undiagnosed autistics, venturing into and embracing motherhood, and connecting with their children in a unique and powerful way.
They offer advice on overcoming the challenges of parenting when you are autistic, such as socialising with other parents or sensory issues that come with excessive touch. Reflecting on their own experiences, they also emphasize the positives of being an autistic parent to an autistic child, such as understanding of why their child is struggling or the open-mindedness that can come from not being constrained by societal norms. They also explain how out-of-the-box thinking leads to creative parenting of non-autistic children, forming strong and loving bonds.
Full of wit and warm advice, this book empowers autistic parents and reassures them that autism is a strength in raising their children with love, knowledge and experience, while also giving non-autistic parents and professionals a fresh perspective on helping autistic children to thrive.
Renata Jurkevythz is a features writer for Spectrum Women Magazine and contributor to the book Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism. Before writing about autism, Renata used to write about parenting in her blog and in the website of a local parenting/birth group in Brazil. She was professionally diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in 2016. She lives in Germany.
Maura Campbell is senior editor and features writer for Spectrum Women Magazine and co-author of Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism and has written on autism and learning disability for a range of other publications, including AuKids Magazine, and for the BBC. She was professionally diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in 2011. She lives in Northern Ireland.
Lisa Morgan is author of Living Through Suicide Loss with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and a co-author of Been There Done That, Try This! both published through Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Lisa is an assistant editor, feature writer, and columnist of Spectrum Women Magazine and provided the foreword to Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism. She is also co-chair of the Suicide and Autism committee of the American Association of Suicidology. She is an autistic adult and lives in Maine, USA.