How much do you tell people about your DC's condition?

[Laurajay84]

Our DS has just turned 3 and last month was diagnosed with having Autism. Told his grandparents who said they already knew and were very laid back about it all, talked about the assessment for five minutes and then we all moved on with our lives.

Don't get me wrong, DS's grandparents love him very, very much, and In some ways I am glad that it's not a major issue that people want to talk about all the time. On the other hand, sometimes I feel like I can't discuss anything we're doing with DS to help him because it seems like they feel uncomfortable, don't want to talk about it, or think it's all a bit 'woo'.

For instance, because DS hasn't started nursery yet, the HV has arranged for a nursery nurse to come to the house to start doing some nursery type activities with him to get him interacting more. When I told them this, I think they feel these appointments are a bit pointless and a waste of time. Same when I mentioned doing other interventions such as SALT, etc, they told me that it wasn't worth spending a lot of money on. I daren't even mention that we're starting ABA very soon....

The bottom line is they think he's fine and he'll just do things when he's ready...which I agree with, but also I feel that we should be doing as much as possible to give him the best start in life. Maybe I just shouldn't mention appointments, etc in future....

[coffeeaddictedandfat]

I think it is not uncommon for GPs to be in denial. they don't live with the child on a day to day basis and it is easier for them to not see things.

[Suninwinter]

What sort of ABA are you going to do? We are thinking about it too.

[Msqueen33]

I think the older generation really gets it that well. It's good they accept him for him though. I'd probably not tell them about the therapies. Hope you're doing okay after diagnosis. Our three yr old should be diagnosed on Thursday and our six year old is already diagnosed.

[elliejjtiny]

I think it's an older generation thing. Everything is so different now to how it was when their children were young. My inlaws are always saying "oh, ds4 will be fine" when it's obvious to me that he won't be.