Last month I shared on Facebook my goals and dreams for writing an e-book and building a tool kit for families with autism who are expecting babies.
Research Paper
Here I will share the opening paragraph.
After I was hired by my first client with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), I started doing some research. The information that I was able to find regarding supporting a client with ASD during labor and birth was abysmal. I found a few articles from the UK that were very helpful regarding living with parents with ASD. There was nothing however regarding support during pregnancy, labor and the postpartum. I requested information from the state autism society. I was directed to a website link with lots of documents and processes, to put in place with caring for a person with autism. There was a surprising lack of information regarding tools and how to support during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting.
If you want to see more about what I learned, please check out the attached PDF for the whole article.
Experience
If you are an autistic parent who would be willing to share your story please consider emailing me.
Essential Support
I believe that doula support and education are incredibly important to success for these families. My goal (with help) is to build out a toolkit as well as a foundation for educating not only the expecting parent but also the support team. Doctors, Midwives, Nurses, and Doulas need to understand how to best support families on the Autistic Spectrum.
