Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Don’T Be Like Me: A Letter To My Daughters, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

It is often stated that parenting is "the toughest job you'll ever love." And it certainly doesn't come with an instruction manual. However, though we will falter, because of our love for our children, most of us learn a lot on the journey. This growth helps us to develop the skills and understanding needed, as parents, to be able to effectively guide, support, and nurture our children. Such knowledge, though beneficial for all families, is critical within neurodiverse households.

So what do you do when you just don't have it? What do you do when you have as much (if …

It’S Not Autism. It’S Your Parenting. An Autoethnographic Exploration Of The Relationships Between Professionals And Parents Of An Autistic Child In The Uk, Barbara Mitra Dr

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This paper is based on my own child who was diagnosed with Autism (aged 7 years and Autism and PDA aged 11). Using autoethnography, drawing on my own diaries, records and journals that I kept throughout this process, I document how our parenting was continually questioned and considered to be ineffective. This was the case even when our child had received his first diagnosis of autism. The extra stress and trauma that such continual questioning had impacted not only on us as parents, but also on our child with worsening behaviour. It seems that professionals continually questioned parenting styles, rather …