Feeling lost

Hi NAS24212,

Even if you were expecting it, receiving a diagnosis for your child can be a very emotional experience. Some people liken it to the grieving process, as similar feelings of shock, disbelief, denial, loss and anger can be very common early responses. Please be reassured that these feelings won’t last forever. And please try your best to be very kind and gentle to yourself over the coming months, and give yourself plenty of time to accept, work through and adjust to the news.

It sounds to me as if you may be in a bit of shock and denial right now, which are perfectly natural responses, and these difficult feelings may be behind your avoidance of reading your leaflets and your reticence to find out anything more about Autism right now. But the fact that you are here, on this site, suggests to me that a part of you is trying your best to begin to make sense of it all, and that’s really great. Welcome.

I would suggest that you seek out any Autism charities in your local area. Local Autism charities may offer parent support workers or similar who offer home visits and who may be able to support and advise you on behavioural strategies you could use which might help you manage your boys behaviours.

Local charities also often offer parent groups, children’s groups or similar opportunities to get together with other families who are living with Autism too, which I would really recommend that you begin to attend if you can; as you will likely find that it becomes really valuable and important to talk with other parents who are going through similar experiences to yourself. Even good friends and supportive family can sometimes find it hard to understand exactly what you are going through if they have not been through it themselves, so spending time with other families who are in a similar situation and facing similar challenges, really does help.

Best of luck.

Hi NAS24212,

Even if you were expecting it, receiving a diagnosis for your child can be a very emotional experience. Some people liken it to the grieving process, as similar feelings of shock, disbelief, denial, loss and anger can be very common early responses. Please be reassured that these feelings won’t last forever. And please try your best to be very kind and gentle to yourself over the coming months, and give yourself plenty of time to accept, work through and adjust to the news.

It sounds to me as if you may be in a bit of shock and denial right now, which are perfectly natural responses, and these difficult feelings may be behind your avoidance of reading your leaflets and your reticence to find out anything more about Autism right now. But the fact that you are here, on this site, suggests to me that a part of you is trying your best to begin to make sense of it all, and that’s really great. Welcome.

I would suggest that you seek out any Autism charities in your local area. Local Autism charities may offer parent support workers or similar who offer home visits and who may be able to support and advise you on behavioural strategies you could use which might help you manage your boys behaviours.

Local charities also often offer parent groups, children’s groups or similar opportunities to get together with other families who are living with Autism too, which I would really recommend that you begin to attend if you can; as you will likely find that it becomes really valuable and important to talk with other parents who are going through similar experiences to yourself. Even good friends and supportive family can sometimes find it hard to understand exactly what you are going through if they have not been through it themselves, so spending time with other families who are in a similar situation and facing similar challenges, really does help.

Best of luck.