• Replies 2 replies
  • Subscribers 68 subscribers
  • Views 283 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Telling daughter she is PDA Autistic

West1986

Hello all 

Recently joined the society my daughter is 6 and in the last year has had a confirmed diagnosis of autism with a PDA profile. School has been a struggle but we managed to get more support for her and now have an EHCP in place when she starts year 2 this September. We haven't told her yet but I have the sense she already has a sense she is different and don't want to keep her in the dark. I am thinking of starting the conversation with her before she starts year two so I can work on making her more self aware. Does anyone have any advice on this? How did you talk to your children about this? When did you tell your children? Any regrets? 

Thanks so much 

  • Hello West1986,


    We told our 6 year old daughter a few days ago. We were waiting for her to ask a question that may help us gently bring on the topic. What helped us was that we picked up a sunflower linyard for her and she asked why. We told her it is to help people with hidden differences (not "disabilities", the word sounds too negative and scary) let other people know that they are different so they (other people) accept them (people with hidden differences) as they are, without judgement.

    We presented the word "autistic" to our daughter by linking it to things that she has noticed about herself: her speech delay, and feeling that things that look easy for other children are difficult for her. We insisted that it's not a disease, just the way her brain works, that we are here to support her, as are all the adults from school, that we love her and that she can talk to us or adults at school if she's worried.

    So far, she's only brought it up again once. So I know she's understood it and she seems to have taken it as well as possible.

    Hope that helps.

    Good luck in letting your daughter know.

  • Hi West1986, and welcome to the online community.  It's great to hear that you've managed to get support in place for your daughter at school and are thinking about how to discuss her diagnosis with her.

    We do have a specific guidance page on this that you might find helpful: When should I talk to my child about their diagnosis?  There are also some tips from parents of autistic children about how they approached this.

    I hope you find this helpful, and I'm sure some of our community members will also have their own stories to share!  Wishing you and your daughter all the best, and please do feel free to post again and let us know how things go.