Did you know that parents of autistic children have higher stress levels than other groups of parents

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Did you know that parents of autistic children have higher stress levels than other groups of parents?

Many studies reveal that parents of autistic children often report increased stress, depression and anxiety.

You might argue that becoming a parent is a significant life change and parents need to adjust to their new life situation, which sometimes can be challenging. However, this adjustment is more significant for parents who have a child with a disability.

Having a child with additional needs puts further responsibilities on the family, and these obligations can become important sources of stress.

Research findings on this topic report that the psychological well-being of parents of children with disabilities is affected more negatively than parents of children without developmental delays.

Different studies have analysed the variables that cause increased levels of stress for parents, such as:

• Burden and fatigue caused by the child's long-term care.
• Changing family roles and routines.
• Difficulties in diagnosis and access to service.
• Poor social support.
• Economic burden from ensuring the child's access to appropriate education and therapy services.
• Problems experienced in participating in social life.

Nonetheless, when we look closely at the literature about parenting a child with additional needs and stress levels, there is one particular variable that minimises parental stress: social support. Interestingly, psychological well-being has a stronger association with support quality than the quantity of social support. So a small but strong network can make a huge difference.

Therefore, one of the recommendations that I often suggest to parents of young children with disabilities is to strengthen and cultivate their support network. You might be fortunate to live near your family or in the area where you grew up, and in that case, you are more likely to have a natural support network around you. However, people around you may not realise the amount of support you need, so you need to learn to be assertive and ask for help.

Today, many of us have moved away from where we grew up and don't have that natural support near us. That will have a profound impact on us when we have children, especially if we have children who have additional needs. Regardless of your circumstances, many parents find enormous value in parent-to-parent support groups.

Over the last number of years, I have been fortunate to work with many parents' support groups in Ireland. Some of these groups are large, with dozens of members who meet regularly for coffee mornings, activities with the kids and training sessions for the parents.

Apart from the valuable practical support these groups offer, they are often where many parents meet other families when their children are small, and those relationships become long-lasting.

Parenting a child with additional needs has many challenges that can impact parents' physical and mental well-being. However, having a solid support network can make a positive difference in parents' life. Parent's support groups, such as Down syndrome Ireland, The Down syndrome centre, autism parent's support groups, and parents' groups organised by the different Children's Disability Network Teams offer opportunities for parents to meet other families.

"Sometimes we need someone just to simply be there. Not to fix anything, or to do anything in particular, but just to let us feel that we are cared for and supported".

Do you want to learn more about how to prevent problem behaviour and how to respond when they occur?

I often teach a Masterclass on preventing and responding to challenging behaviours.
This Masterclass is suitable for parents and educators of children with developmental delays, Down Syndrome, intellectual disabilities, speech and language delays and autistic children from 2 to 6 years of age.

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