Dangerous Disclosure: An Autoethnographic Account of My Autism Diagnosis and the Social Work Profession

The disclosing of an autism diagnosis presents particular challenge for autistic mothers, especially for those autistic mothers who are additionally advocating for their autistic children within public service provision. Research into autism and parental blame demonstrates how autistic mothers are disproportionately exposed to aspects of mother-blame. Disclosure of an autism diagnosis for autistic mothers can therefore be understood as a complex decision-making process whereby managing autistic identity and understanding autistic self are impacted by the additional need to manage the perceptions of others and associated stigma. The decision-making process is further influenced by the tangible consequences of mother-blame (child removal) which raises questions around how much autonomy and free will autistic mothers hold with regards to exercising choice in diagnostic disclosure. This paper presents the experiences of one autistic mother (the author), examining her disclosure to children’s social work practitioners and the subsequent social work consideration of parenting capability.