Autistic Moms and Dads Talk about Parenting Challenges | May Creator Collab 

Another great collab! The sensory overload, involved in parenting seems to be a common thread. It can be unbearable to be in the same room with children, and it makes you feel guilty. I never thought about earbuds, at the time. The hardest thing was friends and sleepovers, and birthdays. Now I am navigating relationships with my two adult sons. My husband, has always been right by my side. Thank you to all who shared today.

I missed the memo that we were all supposed to film outside in nature 😂jk Thanks for letting me participate. Your bit in the beginning was funny!

This is a really lovely collab with a lot of important insight. Thank you for putting it together.

Well done to everyone that contributed. Very interesting to hear about autistic people's experience of parenting . Thank you🙋‍♂️

i didn't start understanding my parents until I became one. I realized I struggle communicating since i was around parents that never truly resolved issues and yelled which caused me to shutdown and run away from conflict. I know now to communicate and to tell my son the truth and have open discussion. He is 5 and is well behaved tho discipline is the hardest part for me and i always have to ask my husband if i was too harsh or too easy bc i still can't handle yelling but overtime I got more comfortable with it since i do have open discussion and apologize and show through actions I'm trying to do better which has helped our relationship significantly. Your advice in the beginning is 100 percent! I do happen to need way more space bc i rather be alone then be around people tbh and my son i can tell loves to be around me but its way to stimulating and exhausting so i taught him independence as soon as he was starting to talk. Im still working on that and we have our times we do stuff together but i need way more recovery time the longer im around him. This ultimately made me not have anymore kids bc i really don't want to go through the trauma and extremly harsh first few years of post partum depression I know It will be worse bc my physical and mental health never truly recovered after just having one child.

I've been workng monster 50 plus hour weeks lately,so didn't have the wherewithal to comment until now-but- I want to thank all who contributed to this vid and thank you Jenny for making it happen. My mother was autistic and I'm in a healing process right now of learning to inderstand her.All of your contributions are very helpful in that regard. It strikes me that awareness of what it means to be an autistic parent is really key. So much more needs to be done to create a safe and supportive environment for autistic parents,where they can speak frankly and receive honest and reality based tips and advice/support. This collab is a great step in that direction. 🎉

I'm an uncle to a cool teen. I struggle with all the same basic stuff too. I feel bad because I know when I freak I can be quiet and leave. Kids don't know how ask for an evac sometimes. I still don't know how to ask for an evac but I get comfort knowing my nephew enjoys neuro spicy guidance

Needed this 💗 thank you to all who worked together on this!

Thank you so much for doing this u guys. U brought me to tears almost. I really relate with the woman who told the story about going to CPS and begging for help. I haven't done that but we considered worse options than begging for help. We really need help. It's very very hard.

I did a terrible job as a parent. I walked out on my wife and my Son because I just couldn't handle it. I was depressed and suicidal and my Psychologist at that time said she would have to commit me if I didn't make a large change in my life because I was a danger both to myself and others. Parenting is just too overwhelming for me. I've since apologised to my x-wife and my Son after discovering that I was Autistic 10+ years after leaving. They were quite understanding. I just need too much alone time and I have too many shutdowns, meltdowns and burnouts. When I walked out I figured that my Son would be better off having a Father in his life, rather than no Father at all. I figure that was the best parenting decision that I ever made, because I am still here now.

Thanks for this 🫂

I loved hearing everyone else's contributions. Much more constructive and meaningful than mine!

Thank you for these collaborations! So helpful to me in this moment.

Nice collaboration! This turned out well! I don't have children but I suggested it because of Mother's Day being in May.

Thanks everyone for sharing your insights! Great video Jenny. 😊

Thank you Jenny. I think it was great to hear from everyone. I really was encouraged by Jenn as well. People have often not believed my kiddo is autistic that its just bad behavior, or bad parenting and that is so frustrating and sometimes makes me question myself even though I know why certain things cause a meltdown or certain behavior, Ill wonder could I have done something better? Or is it possiblly partly my fault how big tthe reaction or response is? So thank you.

Well, beeing a poor single-mum with no family AND not knowing that I myself are AuDHD having unwilling (it is a difference to decide to get pregnant or by force get pregnanted and not be able to make an abortion because You are so afraid of the price You have to pay for this "sin", "murder", ... Today I would do it with no problem, but I was very young and there had not been sources like internet those times) a kid that screamed since bitth and made my willing to scratch myself out of my own skin because all that loudnrss, dirt and chaos was so hurtful horrible for me, criieng myself to sleep every night for years, wanting to die to have a bit silence and rest. . I hated it. And I wished I had no kid. And for that felt guilty as hell, because none of it was his fault.

Honestly, the beginning of this was the best advice I've gotten in years. My daughter went no contact with me after graduating high school 10 yrs ago. I bet you that she does not know that I am autistic. The last time we spoke via text she told me that I wouldn't even know what I would be apologizing for. And she was right. I'm pretty sure she thought I was a narcissist. What you said hit me, really really hard, and gave me the clarity I needed to take responsibility for finding her... instead of her finding me for answers someday. Thank you Jenny! 🩵