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

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Metadata sources used for this reference

OpenAlex Crossref BibTeX
Learn more about the sources used

Running, A. (2025). Dangerous Disclosure: An Autoethnographic Account of My Autism Diagnosis and the Social Work Profession. Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.9707/2833-1508.1212

Publication date: 6 Jun 2025 Added to AutiHub: 29 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Alice Running *

Abstract

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.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 17 Oct 2026 01:28.

Cited references
9
With a DOI
7
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
0
2 / 9 (22.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 9 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
9 / 9 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
0
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
27
From DOI or external metadata
27
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
14 / 27 (51.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 13 / 27 (48.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
3 / 27 (11.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 3 / 14 (21.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 3 / 27 (11.1%).
  1. Sandra Hodgetts , Chantal Labonte , Rinita Mazumder , Shanon Phelan (2020). Helpful or harmful? A scoping review of perceptions and outcomes of autism diagnostic disclosure to others . Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 77(101), 101598. Elsevier BV.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2020.101598 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3038469061
    OpenAlex
  2. Amber-Sophie Dugdale , Andrew R. Thompson , Alexandra Leedham , Nigel Beail , Megan Freeth (2021). Intense connection and love: The experiences of autistic mothers . Autism, 25(7), 1973. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/13623613211005987 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3154030996
    OpenAlex
  3. Emeline Han , Katrina Scior , Katerina Avramides , Laura Crane (2022). A systematic review on autistic people's experiences of stigma and coping strategies . Autism Research, 15(1), 12-26. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1002/aur.2652 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4200200179
    OpenAlex
  4. Robyn M. Powell , Susan L. Parish , Monika Mitra , Michael Waterstone , Stephen Fournier (2024). Child welfare system inequities experienced by disabled parents: towards a conceptual framework . Disability & Society, 39(2), 291-318. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2022.2071675 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4229041752
    OpenAlex
  5. Katy Johanna Benson (2023). Perplexing Presentations: Compulsory Neuronormativity and Cognitive Marginalisation in Social Work Practice with Autistic Mothers of Autistic Children . The British Journal of Social Work, 53(3), 1445. Oxford University Press (OUP).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcac229 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4321371598
    OpenAlex
  6. Phil Heslop , Matthew Bushell (2023). Reporting Findings from an Exploratory Study of Social Workers’ Perceptions about autism Training . The British Journal of Social Work, 53(6), 3218. Oxford University Press (OUP).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcad108 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4362591591
    OpenAlex
  8. Killian, Caitlin (2023). Failing moms the social condemnation and criminalization of mothers .
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W7028493568
    OpenAlex
  9. Amy Pearson * , Kieran Rose * (2023). Autistic Masking: Understanding Identity Management and the Role of Stigma .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W7045491088
    OpenAlex