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Explaining Autism to your child

NAS79621

My son is 8 years old very literal and a big worrier (high anixety ) 

I want to tell him he is autistic but don't know how to approach it and don't want him feeling different or worried etc any advice ?

My son also hates school,  says he hates the teacher , she's always shouting ,telling him  to do stuff etc  .every morning is a drama about going and again in the evenings . Any advice ? 

Thanks x

Parents

  • We had already realised my son was autistic quite a while before he got the diagnosis. This meant that way before he had the diagnosis I was casually scattering positive messages about autism into conversations for AGES. I’m an artist and several times (and I realise this might sound slightly silly) I’d say that “being autistic is a bit like being artistic - it’s someone who has certain things that they really live or that they’re really good at….” etc etc etc. My son was very young obviously and I tried to make this link between being artistic (which he had loads of positive associations with) and being autistic. I know it sounds quite basic in some ways but I think it genuinely helped. I also made sure to talk about famous autistic people like Tim Burton (who we really like in our family) and Albert Einstein - basically anyone with a positive image for him. 
    So I sort of slowly and gradually kept dropping these positive associations into conversations.

    And then as we got closer to discussing it with school and having appointments etc we talked about it in a more straightforward way that related to his own life and experience, and what that felt like and meant for him.
    By the time he got the diagnosis he was actually totally cool with it. 
    I think the key thing is to take it slow and gentle - and make sure you make as many positive associations as you can. What matters is that he knows that you 100% are positive about EVERYTHING about him - including him being autistic. Complete unconditional love and acceptance of the wonderful person that he is. 

  • in reply to Kate Kestrel

    Just noticed a typo in the above - I meant to say “things they really LOVE” - not ‘live’. 

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