A Spotlight on Family Resources


This article originally appeared in START Connecting in January 2024. 

Families play an important role in helping children with autism throughout their lives. They often advocate for their child’s needs, such as accessing needed services, academic help, and social opportunities, while also guiding them to self-advocate and learn to have their own voice. When parents and caregivers have credible information and resources, they can better support their child in and out of school and make sure they get the help they need (Szlamka et al., 2024).

A family of four standing in front of a house

As children grow into young adults, families can encourage independence and assist with important decisions through supported decision-making. Research shows that parents of autistic children often feel more stress than parents of children with other disabilities because of the unique challenges they face in finding support and resources, and working with providers on treatment and interventions (Kurzrok et al., 2021). It is important for parents and caregivers to know where to find reliable information on topics like school supports, self-determination, peer programs, ways of managing frustration through more effective communication, self-management strategies; and planning for life after school, including college, jobs, and adult life in the community.

START will share a new featured resource quarterly during the school year. Each resource will focus on a topic that is important to families and autistic individuals, offering an overview, its significance, self-advocacy tips, and extra tools such as checklists and templates. 

We invite you to explore previous featured resources and share them with the families in your network:

Written by: Stacie Rulison, MS, M.Ed, BCBA, LBA, Consultant and Jamie Owen-DeSchryver, PhD, Project Faculty

Resources

The following are other credible autism and family resources that may be helpful to parents and caregivers of autistic children:

References

Kurzrok, J., McBride, E., & Grossman, R. B. (2021). Autism-specific parenting self-efficacy: An examination of the role of parent-reported intervention involvement, satisfaction with intervention-related training, and caregiver burden. Autism, 25(5), 1395-1408.

Szlamka, Z., Sebastián, C., Hanlon, C., & Hoekstra, R. A. (2024). Caregiver-centred empowerment for families raising autistic children: A qualitative case study from Argentina. Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 28(11), 2768–2778.




Page last modified January 13, 2025