To ask if your autistic child has shared their diagnosis with their friends

[RainbowTwister]

And if so has that been a positive or negative experience. Has it helped their friends understand some of their behaviour or lead to bullying/meaness.

DC is currently undecided whether to share their diagnosis and has asked my advice. I'm not sure so would love to hear others experience on this.

My dd chose autism as the subject of a class presentation, she was 4th or 5th if I remember to do it, the first had picked their favourite football club, where they went on holiday and a pop star (this is 15 years ago hence hazy memory!) then it was her turn and I didn't know what she had planned, just the teacher had invited a handful of parents... anyway she had a full PowerPoint on autism and the impact it has on people plus how young people can support their autistic classmates! Anyway there was frantic scribbling on pads as youngsters tried to switch from favourite bands and tv programmes! Felt for the kid after her that had chosen Busted as their topic and only one slide, a photo.

She's very up front to this day

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I was watching TV with ASD DS, about disabled racing drivers, & we were both kinda shocked by seeing an autistic driver - DS said HE didn't feel disabled.. did anyone else see it? What did you think? I think DS was shocked / upset..
teambrit.co.uk/about/

By the way I never told dd she was autistic (she was diagnosed at 2) she worked it out for herself about age 8, found her googling terms and medical journals (we had access due to exh)

@gogohmm DS also self diagnosed! :-)
Haven't we got clever kids?

I just think it's lovely that he has friends - plural - to tell. DS had no friends at all throughout school until his brother let him join his friendship group and they were very accepting of him. Now at uni he has loads of friends but I am pretty sure he masks most of the time and that they don't know. He also has ADHD which is harder to amsk so I guess they realise about this.

My 14yo told his friends. They all engage in good natured teasing about it. Apparently when he's being random they say "ADHD level 100!"

Bullshit. It can be incredibly subtle, especially in girls.

Really nice to hear how positive one of these stories are. It would be great if my DC could gain such acceptance and openness.

@BertieBotts Brilliant! ;-)

Good luck @RainbowTwister - hugs to you & your child. :-)

DC didn't have friends for years, no party invites, no play dates, no one calling for him at weekends or in the holidays. However over the last two years, as they've all gotten older, he's found his tribe and is really coming into his own. It's lovely to see and I hope everyone's DC who is struggling in that area can find the same

Dd2 attends a special school for children with autism, so she has never really had to tell anyone , I’ve always felt quite lucky in that way.

DS has updated me & said on his gaming forum / thingy / whatever they are called.. he doesn't mention being ASD - I guess he's with his tribe on there & it's just not necessary! :-)

My son has, his friends accept him for who he is. But they are all bonded due to them all having asd or adhd or learning difficulties, so stick together as they understand each other. My son opinion is this is who I am accept it or don't. which is a wonderful attitude to have but it has led to bullying and general unpleasantness from other children. Which he does struggle with.