Do I tell my little boy he has autism? Please help

This is a great way to look at it. Exactly how he would process. Thank you 

Thank you for this.

Thanking you and thank you for the link

I'd say in much the same way you'd probably explain to him what sex is. Start with the biological facts and let discussion about the consequences of those facts flow form there. His brain is different, not inferior, just different to other kids. His brain works differently which means he thinks about and perceives the world differently.

In addition to what others have said, I would also recommend Ausome Training.  They have a free download called "Explaining Autism to your Child" which, although I've not used it myself (cos in my family we were all identified as adults), should be useful if it's as good as the rest of their resources.  

ausometraining.com/.../ 

He undoubtedly knows he’s different, but not why. He may not start thinking about it in detail until he matures, say around 11.

I personally think it’s a good idea to tell him he is autistic. That’s enough, if he asks what it is, keep it simple, and say it just means you think a bit different to other people. Again, that might be enough, he will ask questions as and when he feels like it. 
I told my daughter at around 10, becuase that’s the moment it actually clicked. She wasn’t diagnosed, I just knew. She was fine, and wanted to know more, so researched it herself.

Thank you - this shines so much light for me and I really appreciate it.

wow- I really needed to hear this today. Thank you. Ive just copied and printed this, it really has made my day.Thank you 

Hard to say - as my wife was diagnosed when she was 4 we always knew it was more than likely he was going to be autistic. It was a relief to have the Dr's finally agree with us that he is so we can get him the support he needs.

I was only recently diagnosed this year and have felt a range of relief, confusion, frustration from it. But my wife and I both say we have learnt so much from watching him develop (he's 4) and how it relates back to our own childhoods. 

Here's a quick breakdown of why I think I felt what I did/do:

Relief - finally knowing why I couldn't do or was bad at some things (socialising etc)

Confusion - why wasn't it picked up before...

Frustration - Partly as above why it wasn't picked up, but mainly getting other people to accept the diagnosis

For young kids, it's better to help them recognise they have similar traits to other animals. Our hearing and sense perception is closer to a dogs - we can use smell better than most but not as good as a dog, but how magical is that. We can appreciate and learn to balance like cats, we're not as good as a cat, but again, it's a connexion not everyone has. Our senses are more intense, not super powers like superman, but they are pretty cool. 

A philosopher I like to read refers to our Human design as the Analytic design. The Autistic Analytic. A thing to be encouraged. We might be the technicians back stage while the NeuroTypcial design is better skilled for being on stage. 

When I think about key factors, I come down to intense sensory impact for lack of filtering, so it's always important to mind what I'm exposed to. This lack of filtering means I can be specialised with it in ways not everyone can (cheesemaking or risk management or botany). 2nd, I might have a wild imagination, be able to think in unique ways not everyone can. This imagination should be encouraged and nourished. It's important to find other representatives of thinkers and key humans with excellent imaginations. But also realise the mind can get out of control when excited which can turn to anxiety, like a power overload. So minding that it can be good to indulge in stories near bedtime. And last our laser beam focus... all kinds of analogies go along with this. If you help give this room to flourish, that focus can be a source of grounding and learning. 

I never really loved it when my mother called me unique or special. It felt isolating. Humans are made fro relationship if even just a few. In order to really understand ourselves we need to feel understood and connected. There is something interesting about the Autistic experience in always feeling too much an individual and desiring to be connected. The opposite can be said about Non-Autistics and the desire to feel unique and not just another number in the collective. There's a lot of psychology behind this, but this is the basic conclusion. 

Autistic females usually get diagnosed at a later age, I've listened to many of them and they felt relief when they found out they are autistic. They said finding out they are autistic finally made everything in their life start to make sense, they couldn't understand their difficulties beforehand.  

I've seen a father say the therapist told him to let his son come to it in his own time, using his own words, at this point the father was using "different" instead of "Autism". 

Thank you for this, I use phrases like this to him a lot. Can I ask you this, how did it feel when you understood it? Relief? I always wonder how he will feel. 

Thanks again 

We tell our son that he is different like mummy & daddy (we are both diagnosed) and that it's not a bad thing, everybody is different.

I think it's easier to keep it simple with them, they don't need to know what lies ahead for them in life. Just reassure that you will be there to help.