How to explain ADHD and ASD diagnosis to child

[veneeroftheyear]

I posted this in Special Needs but didn't get a reply. DS age 10 has just had a diagnosis of ADHD and ASD. We need to tell him about it but I want to ensure we present it to him as a positive thing and not make him feel like he's made all wrong. He already has low self esteem from the messages he's internalised at school.
Anything that worked well for you, or good book recommendations that might help to support him alongside our explanations would be great to hear. He's articulate and reads well. I'm relieved but also slightly overwhelmed.

Anyone? No answers on the SN board either...

Hi, sorry for the lack of response. I wouldn’t suggest some youtube videos online. JK publishing do loads of books.

I don't know how to explain ASD to the child diagnosed with it, but I know a year 6 child who explained to his class that he has ADHD and he said that it means he learns in a different way and he needs extra time to understand things, and that he sometimes needs to find a quiet place on his own. Maybe something along those lines? Make it about what he needs/ how he 'works' rather than a general description.

There is a book called 'can I tell you about autism' that is useful. I think there is also one for adhd.

Thank you! I will definitely check out these book suggestions. And I completely agree that it's really important that he understands that, although some things are more difficult for him, there are lots of positives to his condition.

My son loved this ADHD book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ADHD-Our-Superpower-Amazing-Children/dp/1787757307/ref=ascdff_1787757307/

I've had ASD explained as a different 'brain language'. I usually say brain is wired differently. this video is really helpful.

Abigail Balfe's A Different Sort of Normal was very well received by my autistic DD. It's written by an autistic woman and it's got lots of cartoons and humour. I don't know if it would be as loved by a boy, but it's worth taking a look. Elle McNicoll is another autistic author who writes great fiction books with neurodivergent characters. The second one has a boy with ADHD in it as well as an autistic girl.

I've used some of the stuff on the National Autistic Society website in the past. But I really like stuff written by other neurodivergent people because that peer experience is so important.

My son loved this book The Survival Guide for Kids with ADHD (Survival Guides for Kids) amzn.eu/d/g78oXrQ

These all look great. Thank you.

This is how I explain it sometimes to the children I work with, if they have the ability to grasp it.

You have a PS5 , it works fine, there's nothing wrong with it, it can do the job. However, someone puts a nintendo disk in it. The PS5 won't work, not because there's anything wrong with it, but because it can't process the nintendo disk, it needs the PS5 disk. It's not the PS5's fault. Your brain is the PS5, a lot of the world and the information you're given is like the Nintendo disk. The adaptations we put in place,the things you need is changing that nintendo disk to a PS5 disk, so that you can actually do the job you're able to do.

All Dogs Have ADHD is a good book.

Percy Jackson and the vast majority of the other modern Greek Demi-gods in the extensive series have both ADHD and dyslexia - these are portrayed as special side effects of their part-godly nature (ADHD helps them in combat with monsters, dyslexia is because their minds are naturally programmed for Ancient Greek instead). My son was really quite disappointed not to have ADHD after reading them…