7 Year old son newly diagnosed with Aspergers

Hi although it has been suspected for a while we received a formal diagnosis this week for the little guy. He has a 14 yr old sister and as at the moment my husband and I are just taking sometime to process this before we move forward. We are not surprised by the diagnosis but needed to formalise it as he is experiencing anxiety and stress a lot more at school this year. (Year 2)

If you were to give a piece of advice to a parent of a newly diagnosed child based on your experience what would it be?

Thanks

Parents
  • To trust your instincts as his parents, the 'experts' don't always know best. Be prepared for the fact that GP's, Teachers, and many other people who's job it is to implement the support your son needs may, in all likelihood, not actually know much of anything about Asperger's. You will be his biggest and best advocates. Even the autism professionals don't actually know your son! No two people with Asperger's present in the same way.   

  • Hi thanks for this. Although I know his diagnosis doesn't change him or how I feel about him, it has thrown up new sources of anxiety for his future. Taking each day at a time at the moment. Glad to have found a source of support on this site though. 

  • It is a really useful site, there's information on things I wouldn't even have thought to look for as I didn't at first glance associate them with Asperger's: a high incidence of IBS-like symptoms, sleeping problems, difficulties with facial recognition, just to name a few. It can quickly become a case of information overload but it's worth bearing in mind that not everyone with an autism diagnosis will be affected by the same things! 

    Trust yourselves, and your son, that you'll find your own path through the difficulties as they crop up. As you said, he's still the same wee boy he always was it's just that you're both going to have to embark on a bit of a learning curve to learn how to best support him. As you'll no doubt know from your older daughter though, that's pretty much what parenting is anyway!  :)   It's just that you might end up having to become a little more kick-ass about it to fight for what your son needs as services and provision vary so much from place to place. I hope the school are proactive and supportive but you should find lots of information around this site should that prove not to be the case. Good Luck!  :)    

Reply
  • It is a really useful site, there's information on things I wouldn't even have thought to look for as I didn't at first glance associate them with Asperger's: a high incidence of IBS-like symptoms, sleeping problems, difficulties with facial recognition, just to name a few. It can quickly become a case of information overload but it's worth bearing in mind that not everyone with an autism diagnosis will be affected by the same things! 

    Trust yourselves, and your son, that you'll find your own path through the difficulties as they crop up. As you said, he's still the same wee boy he always was it's just that you're both going to have to embark on a bit of a learning curve to learn how to best support him. As you'll no doubt know from your older daughter though, that's pretty much what parenting is anyway!  :)   It's just that you might end up having to become a little more kick-ass about it to fight for what your son needs as services and provision vary so much from place to place. I hope the school are proactive and supportive but you should find lots of information around this site should that prove not to be the case. Good Luck!  :)    

Children
No Data