OT-How did you tell your child they had Autism Spectrum Disorder?

[Guest guest]

My dd is 6 1/2 years old, dx with PDD-NOS at 4 years old. She is in a

First-Second Grade combo class room which has been great for her. It

is a " responsive " classroom which explicitly teaches social skills.

She has an aide and has been having outbursts in the classroom.

Basically she is having a tough time transitioning into first grade.

Her teacher floated the idea to us about telling her classmates about

her diagnosis. They are beginning to question why she is treated

differently for behavior problems, why she doesn't listen well, etc.

We have never told dd that she has a disability, her twin brother

doesn't know either. We are not hiding it; it just hasn't been an

issue. We are working to recover dd; and the issues she is having

today may resolve over the coming months. I would love some advice as

to how to approach this with my dd, her twin brother and her

classmates. Thanks in advance.

[Guest guest]

I would love to hear these responses as well. I had a 504 meeting with my 8

year old's teacher in front of him yesterday. He has sensory integration

and attention issues, but we never talk about his severe challenges in front

of him. He was very sad when we left, and I told him I'm working with his

teacher to set him up for success and he is VERY bright and we want him to

love school. I am sending his sitting disc in next week and he is

embarrassed for the 1st time:-( His OT told me to buy 3 more and have a

collection in the class for his classmates to take turns using the special

disc. He is excited that we are making it fun, but it is very hard to talk

about the negative stuff with listening, sensitive ears.

Another subject, my 6 year old had an allergy test on Tues and we had to

talk about leaky gut and the allergist was asking about when he was

diagnosed with autism and what characteristics he has in front of him. When

we got in the car, he asked me what disease he has that the doctor was

talking about. I rounded my answer and told him he didn't' have a disease,

but we were figuring out his allergies to make him feel better. He is

recovering and is so close to the end, I didn't feel like I needed to tell

him the whole story then.

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Christy Carrasquilla

Southern Living at HOME Consultant

Home: (408) 997-7984

Cell : (408) 568-3948

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From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of genuine4321

Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 10:14 AM

Subject: OT-How did you tell your child they had Autism Spectrum

Disorder?

My dd is 6 1/2 years old, dx with PDD-NOS at 4 years old. She is in a

First-Second Grade combo class room which has been great for her. It

is a " responsive " classroom which explicitly teaches social skills.

She has an aide and has been having outbursts in the classroom.

Basically she is having a tough time transitioning into first grade.

Her teacher floated the idea to us about telling her classmates about

her diagnosis. They are beginning to question why she is treated

differently for behavior problems, why she doesn't listen well, etc.

We have never told dd that she has a disability, her twin brother

doesn't know either. We are not hiding it; it just hasn't been an

issue. We are working to recover dd; and the issues she is having

today may resolve over the coming months. I would love some advice as

to how to approach this with my dd, her twin brother and her

classmates. Thanks in advance.

[Guest guest]

--I also have twins. My daughter is ASD, and her twin

brother is neuro typical. THey are also 6 1/2. She is in a first

grade class with an aide and doing quite well. We have not

approached the subject with the teachers, because there have not

been any behavior problems yet. However, we told her brother last

year. It got to the point where he was asking why she couldn't eat

the things he ate, and why she did not get in as much trouble for

some of hte things she did. We told him that she has a lot of

allergies that make it hard for her to think, and that is also why

she can't eat certain foods. We also told him that she would get

better, and pointed out the things that had already gotten better,

such as her playing with him more. He had heard the word Autism from

our conversations with relatives, so we told him that is what her

allergies are called. As a result, he is much more thoughtful of

other kids at his school that are special needs, and he even goes to

the respite nightwith his sister at our church and plays with the

other kids. I suspect my daughter knows something is different about

her, but I have not reached a point where I am ready to tell her she

has autism. Oh well, that is where we are with it.--Tod

-- In , " genuine4321 "

<genuine4321@...> wrote:

>

> My dd is 6 1/2 years old, dx with PDD-NOS at 4 years old. She is

in a

> First-Second Grade combo class room which has been great for her.

It

> is a " responsive " classroom which explicitly teaches social

skills.

> She has an aide and has been having outbursts in the classroom.

> Basically she is having a tough time transitioning into first

grade.

> Her teacher floated the idea to us about telling her classmates

about

> her diagnosis. They are beginning to question why she is treated

> differently for behavior problems, why she doesn't listen well,

etc.

> We have never told dd that she has a disability, her twin brother

> doesn't know either. We are not hiding it; it just hasn't been an

> issue. We are working to recover dd; and the issues she is having

> today may resolve over the coming months. I would love some advice

as

> to how to approach this with my dd, her twin brother and her

> classmates. Thanks in advance.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Her teacher floated the idea to us about telling her classmates about

> her diagnosis. They are beginning to question why she is treated

> differently for behavior problems, why she doesn't listen well, etc.

This presentation might work well for you.

http://www.danasview.net/claspres.htm

Dana

[Guest guest]

I just went through this. We have always used the word autism with our

NT child that is 2 yrs old than Ivy (my ASD kid). So, this year as my

ASD child entered 1st grade, we were worried about how she would do.

Her teacher also asked that I come in and we have a talk about it with

the whole class.

I talked with Ivy about it prior to the day we scheduled for the talk.

She was okay with that and in fact seemed relieved.

I have never seen that Dana, but WOW! I had very muh the same talk with

the kids that you wrote about. I talked about how some kids are great

at soccer, gymnastics or football, while she was great with numbers and

remembering things. I told them what she liked to do and that sometimes

she didn't have the words to tell her friends that she liked them and

wanted to play with them.

We talked about why she took enzymes before lunh and snack. Then we had

a Q & A session. I learned that two of Ivy's classmates have siblings

with autism. One wanted to know if autism was contagious, LOL!!

But after I left, I felt good that we shared it and that her classmates

will now be looking out for her. We are in a small private shool and

the teacher said they have really rallied behind her since our talk and

they include her and kind of *mother hen* her so to speak.

It is the first time we really talked to Ivy directly and told her she

has autism, she just shook her head like she was validating the fact.

God knows, she has heard the word autism a million times in our house,

but I am not sure that she ever put that together with the fact that

she was the person who had it.

I think as parents, we are just learning as we go along. Who knows when

the right time is for you? Just as autism is a big spectrum and no two

kids are the same, we are all at a different place with dealing with it

as well. You will find the right words when it's the right time for you

and your family.

Hugs and good luck!

R.