My name is Yuz Rozenblum and I have two high-masking Autistic and ADHD children - a daughter aged 13 diagnosed at 9 years of age and a son aged 10 diagnosed at 7 years of age.
Following my daughter's diagnosis and gaining an understanding of the female presentation of neurological conditions in females, I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2019.
High-masking neurodiverse children are very complex and present neurotypically until social interactions become more complex and sophisticated. When this happens parents are confronted with the reality that their child/ren who met their developmental milestones, completed their early learning years, and started primary school, have been masking their differences and will require additional support in order to manage their social, behavioural and learning challenges.
Literally Ausome was born out of my need to give some insight and understanding into, and educate the public about:
- the presentations and challenges of high-masking autistic and ADHD children and adults
- the female presentations of autism and ADHD
- the impact autism and ADHD has on the person and their family
- challenging our communities, schools and workplaces to consider, develop and implement appropriate adjustments and accommodations to adequately support our neurodivergent children.
It's my experience that parents with high-masking neurodivergent children have the additional challenges and frustrations of having to manage push-back from medical professionals who are not across the latest research and findings regarding presentations, traits and gender differences with regards to autism and ADHD. We are then forced to inform educators, teachers, extended family members and our friends and peers when discussing assessments, when questioned about diagnoses (sometimes innocently, but often not) which creates an additional layer of emotional triage, further pushing our own needs aside to constantly advocate, educate and convince those around us so we can get the right answers and the right support for our family.
The daily challenges of parenting high-masking neurodivergent children are relentless. We are constantly defending, explaining, convincing, advocating and sometimes fighting our communities, schools and extended families, in addition to supporting and managing our children's challenging behaviour, whilst being present and available to our partner and managing our households. This load can leave us utterly exhausted, feeling extremely isolated and sometimes even resentful, and we tend to push our feelings aside to manage the immediate requirements of providing our children with the necessary and appropriate support.
As much as Literally Ausome is about advocacy, guidance and education, it's also a safe and inclusive forum and support for families during this transition and difficult time providing a hub full of strategies, tools, processes and guidance that serve to empower parents and carers in making the best decision and choices moving forward, as well as providing the necessary emotional support.