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Should I tell my 8 year old son what's going on and that he might be autistic?

NAS75467

I have been invited to an initial assessment (via zoom) and they have asked that my son is present - but I cannot find out what they are going to ask him in the meeting. When I rang, the receptionist told me it was to go through the forms I filled in but I wouldn't want him to see what I wrote on the forms as he might be upset as it tackled some tricky subjects.  I am reluctant to involve my son as I have never mentioned to him that he might be autistic. Is it better to broach the subject or will the paediatrician just ask some basic questions and not mentioned th 'a' word? I don't really want him to know - I was just going to say it was a basic developmental assessment.

Parents

  • Why exactly are you withholding it from him? Do you not want to upset him or do you think it may skew his responses to the assessors if he knew? It may be an option to have him there at the start but then have him play in another room while you talk to them and call him back in when they want to ask him questions. If he is diagnosed I would consider very carefully about the consequences if you still decide to withhold the information from him. Having a diagnosis even at a young age can help him to make sense of himself and understand his differences. If you search the forum there are a few threads about angry young adults and teens who have only just discovered they were diagnosed in childhood and had not been told

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  • Why exactly are you withholding it from him? Do you not want to upset him or do you think it may skew his responses to the assessors if he knew? It may be an option to have him there at the start but then have him play in another room while you talk to them and call him back in when they want to ask him questions. If he is diagnosed I would consider very carefully about the consequences if you still decide to withhold the information from him. Having a diagnosis even at a young age can help him to make sense of himself and understand his differences. If you search the forum there are a few threads about angry young adults and teens who have only just discovered they were diagnosed in childhood and had not been told

Children