Published on 12, July, 2020
Hey :)
My son who is 11 was diagnosed with ASD about 3 weeks ago, we have been waiting for this for 9 years its been such a long journey.
the struggle i am facing is telling my son about his diagnosis, he have heard medical professional, family interventions teams, teachers, doctors pointed toward ADHD and my son have fixed on that now after my self and his father explained it may not be that etc and we need to wait whilst the ND team done their thing. Anyways for him to get support ready and the ball rolling for when he goes to year 7 comprehensive school we need to tell him about his diagnosis.
my question is, how did you tell your children or family member who had their diagnosis?
thanks in advance. x
I would just reinforce the positives & his potential. Talk about his differences as though it were simply a difference in personality. We all have talents and limitations. Humans cannot just be anything they want and it's more often than not, the things we desire and enjoy, the capacities we have and our potentials are part and parcel to our unique selves.
I have a lot of ADHD friends. They're teachers, music producer, one is a band managers, a therapist turned yoga instructor and an author/wellness experts. It sounds frustrating you had to wait so long, but hopefully he'll get the help he needs.
That helps a lot thank you, his is so bright and creative. im hoping if i can visualise it for him in a good way it wont seem as daunting to him i just didn't know where to start. and ive no one to speak to about it i didn't know where to go. it was, i felt at one point i made it all up as he kept getting told he didnt meet the criteria i dont know what changed but im just so happy he can have the right support and i can educated my self more to help him also. x
Here's what I do know. ADHD tend to be more impulsive. They're amazing with fast thinking (rather than slow - fast vs slow thinking) and they also have the Autistic Monotropic Brain: https://monotropism.org/ the other similarity to Autism is ADHD also have a hyper-sensory Salience Network. Life might be too much all at once. And difficult to disseminate and so difficult to identify what he can sense. Eventually when he learns more about the science of things it will help.
My ADHD friends say they all at random will get a rush of adrenaline - out of the blue. And they all hate it, but exercise is the only thing for it. A few don't sleep much, so perhaps shelves of books and a halogen lamp for reading at night when he's wide awake. (see lightaware.org). They all are easily distracted but it's also like they live in another dimension of time! The brain doesn't quite make enough dopamine, so if he's highly interested in something and studying happily, just make sure he eats (I still bring my son a sandwich or now, a coffee). The last thing I know is that addiction can be too easy. This might be something to watch out for. There are things worth getting addicted to: running, reading, wellness, etc.
A few love Ritalin (including my cousin), one friend refuses to try it and prefers medical weed, and another just throws himself into making music, which seems to have a really good all around affect. There's lots of options! Hope this helps.