Published on 12, July, 2020
We have just had an ASD assessment on our son. We have just (today) received the report and as we suspected, he is autistic. Although he knows the assessments were for ASD, he hasn't been asking what the outcome might be. Now we have a definite diagnosis, we want to tell him but we want to do it right and put it across in a positive way.
Is there anybody who can share their experiences please?
Our son is a sensitive soul and can be quite anxious.
My other concern is that he might share his diagnosis with people at school who will use it to target him.
Any help or advice is welcomed.
Thank you!
It has taken me years to come to terms with my diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome at an early age. Granted, it was over twenty years ago, but I always felt embarrassed and avoided discussing it with my parents. We now live in a society that is much more aware, particularly younger generations, of neurodiversity and the fact Autism is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of. It can bring a lot of benefits into our lives! The idea suggested by Martin in this thread of contextualising the diagnosis to your son with the names of famous Autistic people sounds like a good idea. It will hopefully prove to him that he can do and achieve anything if he puts his mind to it.
It is completely normal for him to be sensitive, we often feel emotions more intensely and overthink consequences of our social interactions which can manifest itself as anxiety. It would be helpful to try and create a sensory friendly, comfortable environment to have the conversation.
Best of luck.