Autistic and Living the Dream

Tag: Parenthood

  • Helping our younger selves

    Helping our younger selves

    The author shares the challenges of being a neurodivergent person who wants to support others like them. They express frustration at not being taken seriously in conversations about neurodivergent children, and highlight the harmful impact of society’s attitudes. They emphasize the need for genuine understanding and support for neurodivergent individuals and their families.

  • Autistic parenthood: Living with mum guilt

    Autistic parenthood: Living with mum guilt

    Content note: transphobia, death, grief, mentions of assault and murder, trauma. I’ve been struggling with a lot of things lately and it all centres around being a mum and not feeling good enough for the job. My feelings of mum guilt is massive. I feel I’m not doing enough for Little Man. I feel guilty…

  • Autistic parenthood: Who am I?

    Autistic parenthood: Who am I?

    I’ve been off the last few weeks, not really feeling myself, I’m content but also really low. Nothing has been interesting me, I just get up do whatever I’m doing and then wait for bed time, to get up and do it all again. I have lots of projects ending, projects beginning, lots of waiting…

  • Living with Seasonal Affective Disorder

    Living with Seasonal Affective Disorder

    Content warning: poor mental health. During the winter (which seems to be an ever-growing season in the UK) I am a husk of myself, a sad, low energy person who wants to crawl into a hole and sleep for a long time. I hate the darkness, the cold, the drab lifeless streets, the wind and…

  • Autistic parenthood: I wasn’t ready for this!

    Autistic parenthood: I wasn’t ready for this!

    Until I became a parent I didn’t quite knew how much having a child would completely turn my life upside down. In the blink of an eye I went from a single person to a wife, from an individual to a mother. I created the most amazing person and I was not ready for his…

  • Autistic parenthood: sensory overload

    Autistic parenthood: sensory overload

    Sometimes parenting as an Autistic person looks like this… My ear defenders now live on the hook in the hall. They’re no longer secreted away until I need them for an activity with big noisy crowds. They are front and centre in the hallway. They need to be easy access because I never know when…

  • Schools Bill MP letter / email template

    Schools Bill MP letter / email template

    I have created this template for people to use in whatever way you think will be helpful, including sharing with your local MP. Don’t know your MP? Find them here. Dear _____ I have some major concerns over the proposed Schools Bill, as the bill shall: 1. Make it more difficult for home educators to…

  • Autistic parenthood: mental load burnout

    Autistic parenthood: mental load burnout

    People tell you a lot about parenting but what they never explain is just how much mental load it takes up: all of it. As an Autistic, Attention Hyperactive person I struggle a lot with mental load. I experience consistent executive dysfunction and I forget things easily. Then I am overly harsh with myself when…

  • Autistic parenthood: where has my self-care gone?

    Autistic parenthood: where has my self-care gone?

    I have always struggled with self-care, both physical and emotional, and I still often forget and avoid things which would actively make me feel better: showers, tooth brushing, haircuts, down time, relaxing (what’s that!?). They have always been tasks that I’ve struggled with due to inertia (see Autistic Inertia) and my skipping delightfully around demands…