Excellerate (Australia)

Background: The objective of this review was to explore autistic experiences of parenthood, as described by autistic people, from conception to relationships with adult children. In addition, we sought to identify whether particular aspects of parenting and/or particular groups of parents are underrepresented in the already sparse literature on autistic parenting. Methods: We searched 10 key databases for articles that reported data on the perspectives and/or experiences of autistic people (formally diagnosed or self-identifying) at any stage of the parenting journey. Following the initial search, we undertook an iterative process of forward and backward searching until no additional relevant articles were identified. Results: We identified a total of 167 articles and included 44 articles in the review following title and abstract review and full-text review. This consisted of four review articles, 12 articles that reported on quantitative studies, and 28 that reported on qualitative studies, with 28 of the 44 included articles published in the past 3 years. Communication challenges were highlighted across the majority of the studies, particularly in relation to communication with health care and other services in relation to participants’ children. Sensory issues associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting were also common themes. However, studies also identified strengths of autistic parents including empathy with their child(ren), and a high degree of focus and commitment to child and family well-being. The majority of study participants were mothers, White, and parenting babies or young children. Conclusions: A consistent theme across the studies was the external nature of many of the challenges of autistic parenting and the internal nature of many of the strengths. It is perhaps not being an autistic parent that is in itself challenging, but rather the way that autistic parents are (mis)understood and (un)supported by systems designed for neurotypical parents.

We fabricated a novel 3-D PBS & 90 ° hybrid constructed by only stacking glass plates with nanostuctured polarization optics on top. We demonstrated low loss and low phase error sufficient for ICR applications.