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How to tell my child!!!!

NAS66126

Hi everyone my son was diagnosed yesterday and I was told about some information books that can help us as parents and also for my son to help explain what autism is. Has anyone on here got any recommendations especially for my son please? 

  • in reply to LauraMel89

    Hi, before my son got his diagnosis we said we didn’t want to tell him because we didn’t want him to think he was different, but the truth is he already knows he is as he tells me a lot that he is not the same as other children. So when we did get the diagnosis we have decided that it would be good for him to know and understand as much as possible, we are going to talk about it over the weekend as he will be with both of us if he has any questions, I believe it will be a good thing for him to know especially as the differences are becoming more apparent as he gets older x 

  • My son is 9, and I've known for a while about him having autism. I never told anyone as I didnt want him to feel any different to the other children. His school has asked me to attend a meeting this week to discuss their concerns as they think he has autism. I feel like the worse mum in the world as I've known since his doctor told me but I kept it secret :-(. I thought I was protecting him but now I have to tell him. He is such a quiet, emotional boy and I'm scared how he will react. His school have been great,and his teacher said she understands why I've not said anything, but she's said he will get all the help he needs and more and I should think about the positives instead of the negatives. I'm also looking for help on how to explain to my son about all of this. He really doesnt handle change well :-(.

  • Hi NAS66126,

    We have some resources here on the NAS site that it sounds like would be helpful for you. In particular you might want to look at the 'After your child's diagnosis' section - https://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children/recently-diagnosed.aspx - which details financial, social and educational support that is available as a parent of a child with ASD, and has a section on how to talk to your child about their diagnosis, with some links to NAS materials and recommended books to look at as well. If you would like more direct support, at the bottom of the page linked you can find the information for the NAS Helpline and Family Support Services as well.

    Hope this will provide some help,
    Ross - mod

  • I suggest using the "Amazing Things Happen" video from YouTube.  The core message I gave my son was that his brain works differently from most people's. The film is good at saying that different isn't worse or bad and you can back that up when you speak him.  Books wouldn't have worked for my son so I never researched them.

    Good luck.