Raelene Dundon will never forget the day she realized it was time to tell her preschool son he was autistic.* When they were visiting her eldest son?s classroom for story time, some of the students noticed that the younger boy seemed similar to their autistic classmate and told Dundon?s eldest that his brother had autism. ?I suddenly thought, I don?t want other people to know if he doesn?t know. I need to do something about this,? recalls Dundon, an educational and developmental psychologist who works with children and their families. She knew she’d have to tell her child he has autism.
After getting tips from others who had been through the process, that’s what she did. She went on to share what she learned with the families she was working with, and eventually turned her tips into a book called Talking with Your Child about Their Autism Diagnosis: A Guide for Parents. ?Parents often are quite anxious about how or when to tell their kids, and that sometimes stops them, when it?s actually better to have the conversation as soon as possible,? says Dundon, who is director of Okey Dokey Childhood Therapy in Melbourne, Australia.
While every child and situation is different, Dundon and other experts say there are some universal best practices when disclosing a diagnosis to a child.
Why should I tell my child they have autism"
If you don?t tell your child they have autism, there?s a good chance someone else will let it slip, or your child will eventually figure ...