As much as the first part was negative, I will attempt to make this one much stronger and uplifting. While most of the links are blogs and personal websites, it is important to note that there ARE other places for positive support.
It is argued that even with support, some parents with Asperger syndrome simply may not be up to the enormous task. Raising a psychologically healthy child involves complex emotional interaction between parent and child, as well as the ability to avoid parental behaviors damaging to a child’s well-being. However it can be easily argued that many neurotypical parents have very poor parenting skills, and of course there are many parents on the autistic spectrum who have excellent parenting skills.
Some adults with Asperger’s syndrome rightly point out that many parents experience parenting difficulties as parents without being on the autism spectrum and that ‘aspies’ should not be singled out as being unable to be effective parents. Asperger syndrome parents should certainly not, be stereotyped or categorized as evil, uncaring, or intentionally abusive. If Aspergers syndrome does affect a person’s parenting skills, this would simply mean that appropriate support should be looked at, as it would be for a parent with anger management issues, depression or any other condition that could impact on their children’s lives.
That comes from Autism Help.org. If you would have looked at their site even a year ago, the negativity towards people having healthy relationships as adults would have shocked you. Luckily, due to changes in perception, this is no longer the case. Obviously, this is just a small snippet and doesn’t go into detail, but we ARE making headway.
There are sites across the web by parents who have come to discover their own Asperger’s. From Life with Asperger’s to Aspie World, you can see examples of parents talking about their lives, marriage, kids. Even some young adults just starting their journey in to parenthood are chiming in on their experiences.
There are some organizations for an Autistic convention, women, advocacy and education, not to mention, research.
It is my hope that we will be able to spread even more. To show that we can not only be good parents, but also, show that we can help neurotypicals some insightful ways to raise their children as well. (And maybe even be nationally recognized with news pieces on families like all of ours!)
Parents with Asperger’s: Part 2 – Positive Reinforcement
As much as the first part was negative, I will attempt to make this one much stronger and uplifting. While most of the links are blogs and personal websites, it is important to note that there ARE other places for positive support. It is argued that even with support, some parents with Asperger syndrome simply may not be up to the enormous task. Raising a psychologically healthy child involves complex... Read more
Parents with Asperger’s: Part 1 – Negative Stereotypes
I hate having to do this, but after searching and searching, I feel it is needed. I have had people ask me some worthwhile resources for parents on the spectrum. I’ve also been doing my best to find reliable sources to draw from to help build some concrete articles. Instead, what I’ve found is not only inaccurate, in many cases, down right brutal. Take an excerpt from an article in USAToday... Read more
Separate rooms – Separate space
Before we moved back to Texas, we lived in a 5 room apartment, 2 bedrooms, two open layout rooms that were supposed to be a living room and a dining room and a eat-in kitchen. As with most parents, we kept our room somewhat off bounds to the children. I bring this up because a moment has just occurred in our new home that I don’t think would have worked out so well in the old home. I have had... Read more
Parents with Asperger’s: Part 2 – Positive Reinforcement
As much as the first part was negative, I will attempt to make this one much stronger and uplifting. While most of the links are blogs and personal websites,...
Separate rooms – Separate space
Before we moved back to Texas, we lived in a 5 room apartment, 2 bedrooms, two open layout rooms that were supposed to be a living room and a dining room...
Parents with Asperger’s: Part 1 – Negative Stereotypes
I hate having to do this, but after searching and searching, I feel it is needed. I have had people ask me some worthwhile resources for parents on the...
ASAN and AASPIRE Gateway Project
We are writing to you on behalf of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. ASAN has partnered with researchers at multiple universities to create the AASPIRE...