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Going to tell my 7 year old he is autistic

SarahB15

Hi there,

I am in a tough spot and would love some advice from other parents who have had this chat. Since my son started grade one, everything has changed for him.. as I believe the expectations are higher but also, so abnormal to how he functions. Sitting in a desk all day listening to a lecture or the buzzing loud noise of 20+ kids is getting too much. I recently had surgery and his seperation anxiety has spiked.. he cries every morning at drop off and it breaking my heart. Recently kids teased him saying he was dumb for how he writes..

So here I am, debating on telling him about his autism and exactly what to say. My son is extremely high functioning so I think he will be understanding, but he suffers from low confidence despite our best efforts. I really do believe it is his super power, he is so bright, funny and gifted.. he wouldn't be him, if he wasn't autistic ! And I absolutely adore him, everyone who meets him does.. 

To end my long speech (thanks for reading) how did you tell your child? How was it received ? Or really anything ? I don't even know where to begin.

Thanks <3

Parents

  • Best thing I did, my son has global development delay, so I waited until he was 10, at least until his community improved, and rather than making it a big deal, I just explained that he struggles with his emotions because of his Autism, at first he shrugged it off, then eventually he came asking what Autism is, and so we watched some videos on YouTube I found the visuals helped, I made sure to check them out myself first, so I knew he could follow them, they kind of softened the diagnosis, with the silliness and humour in the videos, we giggled together and I answered any questions positively, I suppose it helped him understand himself more than anything, and this allowed me to implement strategies to help him with every day struggles, it opened up communication between us, for example he began asking why he gets worried all the time, and I explained that we create our own worries, and by changing them to a positive, they become less a worry because we are controlling them effectively, for e.g going to school, I say no you are just going to work like mum and dad, then we will all come home and be together, the simplifying helps him greatly to look at things from another perspective. 

  • in reply to NAS75162

    I'm glad it went so well for you ! Definitely I think the less we talk and the more we listen, it will help him figure out some stuff on his own. For community, have you done social groups ?

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