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Pros/Cons of Diagnosis

ASC Professional

I am SENCo and teacher who specialises in ASC and have undertaken specialist training in Autism.  My brother has Asperger's Syndrome. I am certain that my 3 and a half year old daughter has Asperger's Syndrime. I work closely enough with paediatricians to know that if she walked into a paediatrician's office, she'd walk out with a diagnosis.  My dilemma however, is whether or not a diagnosis would help or hinder her as an adult. I know that a diagnosis would definitely benefit her during her school years.  I see first hand on a daily basis how beneficial it would be.  However I worry about when she is older, with her job prospects and social prospects. Would a such a label impact on her ability to find a job or a partner? She is incredibly bright and I can see already that she would be able (providing the correct social support was in place) to be employed, but would employers be put off by a diagnosis? Equally, if she found she was able to have a relationship, would prospective partners be put off? I am certain that diagnosis is 100% beneficial at school age. What are your thoughts surrounding the helpfulness of diagnosis for and adult, particularly when they are so high functioning? 

Parents

  • Me - not diagnosed until in my 50's.  Struggled for years trying to cope with the NT world and trying to get on with people whose behaviour I just couldn't understand.  If I'd known from the beginning why I was different I would at least have had the chance to deal in the correct way with the problems I encountered. As it was I have spent most of my life trying to figure it all out.

    I do my best to be positive and look ahead, dealing with my AS and Dyspraxia now  -  but I also realise that my life would have been very different had there been diagnosis when I was a child.  I assume a diagnosis would have enabled me to not be forced to do things I clearly couldn't do, and encouraged to do things I was good at  - it would also have allowed me to understand why I was not like my peers, instead of thinking I was completely stupid all the time.

    The other thing is the bullying - much as longman describes - the effects are long lasting and devastating.  If recognising AS leads to a child being protected somehow from bullying - then I would have given anything to been able to take advantage of that. 

    On the subject of a child having a label - I had several - 'Troublemaker', 'Stupid', 'Useless' were the mild ones and many were much, much worse.  Better that I'd had the correct 'label', than those. 

    ASC - are you thinking that your daughter, in adulthood, would have to inform people of her AS?  Wouldn't that depend on the circumstances, how well she coped and how she felt at the time. It's a long way off from three and a half years old, and getting her through childhood in the best way possible is surely the priority now.  I can only speak from my own experience of course, but the negative things that happened to me because of AS, during my childhood, affected me everyday until I was given my official diagnosis this year  -  such a relief, it explained everything.  Smile

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  • Me - not diagnosed until in my 50's.  Struggled for years trying to cope with the NT world and trying to get on with people whose behaviour I just couldn't understand.  If I'd known from the beginning why I was different I would at least have had the chance to deal in the correct way with the problems I encountered. As it was I have spent most of my life trying to figure it all out.

    I do my best to be positive and look ahead, dealing with my AS and Dyspraxia now  -  but I also realise that my life would have been very different had there been diagnosis when I was a child.  I assume a diagnosis would have enabled me to not be forced to do things I clearly couldn't do, and encouraged to do things I was good at  - it would also have allowed me to understand why I was not like my peers, instead of thinking I was completely stupid all the time.

    The other thing is the bullying - much as longman describes - the effects are long lasting and devastating.  If recognising AS leads to a child being protected somehow from bullying - then I would have given anything to been able to take advantage of that. 

    On the subject of a child having a label - I had several - 'Troublemaker', 'Stupid', 'Useless' were the mild ones and many were much, much worse.  Better that I'd had the correct 'label', than those. 

    ASC - are you thinking that your daughter, in adulthood, would have to inform people of her AS?  Wouldn't that depend on the circumstances, how well she coped and how she felt at the time. It's a long way off from three and a half years old, and getting her through childhood in the best way possible is surely the priority now.  I can only speak from my own experience of course, but the negative things that happened to me because of AS, during my childhood, affected me everyday until I was given my official diagnosis this year  -  such a relief, it explained everything.  Smile

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