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do we tell our son he has ASD?

SarahR

Hi,

I have just joined as my son is coming up for 11, and after a long wait has been diagnosed with ASD (high functioning). While it's no surprise, I find it still leaves me wanting to know more and more, and what to do for the best.

The biggest question I have right now is do we tell him he has ASD, or leave it until he's older?

Parents

  • Please do consider telling your son about his diagnosis sooner rather than later. It is his business more than anyone elses and it could become a terrible 'secret ' that everyone else knows, except him. Our son was diagnosed with ASD aged 7 and he is now 11. We did not know how to broach the subject with him. We wanted to talk to our older son (then aged 10) and wider family and friends, but felt that our son should know first. We felt strongly that it was our duty as his parents to tell him, rather than him finding out from anyone else. It is a brave thing to do, to have this conversation that no parent would want to have with their child, but we want him to know that we support him and an important part of our support includes being honest. We initially had a fairly brief talk with our son, giving the name autism to explain some of the difficulties he has, around relationships with other children etc. I cannot say if this is a good approach for you and your family, but this has been our experience. Good Luck!

Reply

  • Please do consider telling your son about his diagnosis sooner rather than later. It is his business more than anyone elses and it could become a terrible 'secret ' that everyone else knows, except him. Our son was diagnosed with ASD aged 7 and he is now 11. We did not know how to broach the subject with him. We wanted to talk to our older son (then aged 10) and wider family and friends, but felt that our son should know first. We felt strongly that it was our duty as his parents to tell him, rather than him finding out from anyone else. It is a brave thing to do, to have this conversation that no parent would want to have with their child, but we want him to know that we support him and an important part of our support includes being honest. We initially had a fairly brief talk with our son, giving the name autism to explain some of the difficulties he has, around relationships with other children etc. I cannot say if this is a good approach for you and your family, but this has been our experience. Good Luck!

Children
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