Mum's videos show real life with autistic daughter

A mum who shares her journey of raising an autistic daughter online has built a supportive community of parents.

Samantha's video of her daughter, Nina, who is non-verbal, saying "I love you" went viral with 14 million views.

She said social media had helped her connect with other mums, share experiences and educate people about autism.

"Without social media, I would feel quite lost," Samantha said. "It's been amazing to make friends."

Samantha, who lives in Keyingham, East Yorkshire, began sharing snippets of life with five-year-old Nina online but only took it seriously in January.

"I uploaded a video that went viral worldwide," she said.

The video captured an emotional moment when her daughter said "I love you" for the first time.

"I was just laid in bed with Nina," Samantha said. "I was actually filming the video to send to my husband and I said 'I love you' to her. She looked me directly in the eyes and said 'I love you' back.

"I was so shocked. I just uploaded it, thinking nothing of it, and then it got 14 million views in a couple of days."

Samantha said the response had been overwhelming.

She added: "It was really nice that so many mums related to it.

"I don't have any friends or know any mums with autistic children, so to have that little community online giving you support, it was amazing."

She continues to share everyday moments and the challenges of parenting a child with nonspeaking autism.

"I feel like I have created this little community of mums, and I've got a really big support network on there," she said.

''I connect with other mums on there daily about our autistic children and we speak. I've met up with some of them."

While most responses are positive, she said she had faced some criticism from people who believed she shouldn't be sharing the hard part of autism on social media.

"I can't just share the good, because there will be someone out there who's just starting this journey who will think 'Oh, that's an easy ride'," Samantha explained.

"And it's not an easy ride being a mum of someone on the spectrum, so I do share the hard parts, too."

One of her recent posts highlighted an encounter with an elderly man in a cafe, who questioned why she was feeding her daughter.

"I said she has got autism and he just said 'that didn't exist in my day'," she said.

"He referred to autism like measles. I invited him to sit with us, but he wasn't interested."

For Samantha, moments like that show why awareness and support is so important.

"I didn't think there were mums that had bad days like me," she said.

"You cry at night, it's very over-stimulating. I just love sharing that with other parents and having that little network of online friends."

According to the National Autistic Society, autism is a lifelong neurodivergence and disability and influences how people experience and interact with the world.

The society's latest figures show more than one in 100 people are autistic and there are at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.

However, the figure is expected to be higher and the society said more research was needed for a more accurate reflection.

There is more information and support about autism available on the BBC here.

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