12 year old son - to seek assessment for diagnosis or not.

We have often noticed autistic traits in our son and recently he has expressed worries about being different. He had always struggled socially / with friendships and seems to get on better when talking to adults than peoe his won age. He has a big obsession with buses and trains and collects bus timetables. He struggled with big events such as holidays, birthdays and Christmas etc. Anyway we had a chat yesterday and he thinks he would like to look at getting assessment done. He says he would rather look into a possible diagnosis than, as he puts it "have a big question mark,". Howevet today he is stressing about it and saying he is worried how a diagnosis would affect his future job opportunities and that maybe we should wait until he has achieved something first. 

Any advice ? 

Parents
  • Hi. I’m in the process of getting my 18 year old daughter diagnosed. Apparently the waiting list is about 2 years in my area. I would recommend starting the process earlier rather than later so you have a diagnosis when you need help. Hope this helps. she showed signs but they increased a lot around GCSE time. 

  • Yes diagnosis will certainly help when it comes to tackling exams. Your son would be entitled to a smaller/less busy exam room if needed. I found exam halls very daunting and can't help but feel I would have done better in my exams had I been in a room either on my own or with fewer people. However I didn't get my ASD diagnosis until last month, at the age of 27. 

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