Patty Schaafsma (34) from Nieuwlande and her oldest daughter (9) both have autism. But how do you explain to your children what that is and how you should deal with it? She decided to make a number of picture books about it herself.
The first book I feel different came out in 2023, new are the two picture books Mama has autism and Dad has autism.
“I got more and more questions from my children:” Why are you going to lie in bed in the afternoon and why don’t you go to a birthday. “I thought I could explain that best with pictures,” says Schaafsma in the Radio Drenthe -program Cassata.
Schaafsma is now 34 and she was found five years ago that she had autism. “That is late, but you hear more often that women get autism at a later age. That they have struggled with depression, feel different or have had wrong diagnoses.”
Schaafsma has also had depression and a burnout. “That has been remedied, but I noticed that there was more behind it. I still have difficulty with social contacts and incentives, especially sound comes in very hard for me.” She can do things spontaneously, but then needs some time to recover.