Why 'Self-Care' Doesn't Work for Autism Parents, And What Does with Ricky Du Plessis
About this episode
Ricky Du Plessis discusses the importance of caregiver wellbeing for autism parents and the role of metabolic health in managing stress.
In this week's episode of The Autism Mums Podcast we welcome SEND dad and advocate, Ricky Du Plessis, to the show. Biography Ricky Du Plessis is a SEND dad, advocate and podcast host on a mission to support the parents and professionals who care for children with special needs in overcoming the associated chronic stress. His son has level-3 autism and an ongoing ARFID assessment, so he lives the chronic stress he talks about. Unusually, Ricky was deep into metabolic health and the link between metabolic health and our mental resilience, before his son was born and his needs emerged, and that head start is genuinely what has stopped Ricky from burning out under the chronic stress load. He now writes, speaks and hosts a podcast making the case that caring for the caregiver is the most overlooked part of SEND support, but one every family deserves. Key Takeaways The caregiver is the primary intervention – if the parent or carer's wellbeing is compromised, everything that flows to the child is compromised too. The hardware/software analogy – your mind (software) runs on your body (hardware), so physical health directly shapes mental resilience and capacity to cope. Metabolic health…
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