In thinking it's not ok to reveal your son's ASD diagnosis to 4million strangers on Instagram?

[Dabralor]

Mrs Hunch - Instagram cleaning woman- has posted a pic with her little son. He's had an autism diagnosis confirmed.

How can it be justifiable to share his private medical information with all these random strangers? Wherever he goes now in his life, a quick Google search will reveal really personal information about him. This information is no longer his to possess.

If my parents had done this to me, I don't think I could ever forgive them. I feel really sorry for the kids of social media stars 😔.

She said they've both been diagnosed with autism just like that.

I don't think she should be sharing his health information at all, it bring ADHD has nothing to do with it.

She's exploiting her child for fame and money.

I agree it’s terrible. I’d be furious if my parents shared something like this to the world. It’s personal and should stay that way. These parents will likely be sued when the children are older.

It’s not something that should be hidden or ashamed of if the child is old enough to consent to their info being shared. If they’re not then no one has a right to share any info about children in a public forum where they can be identified in life.

The problem is there is a generation of women many of whom have been brought up on the likes of Love Island, Mrs Hinch etc and don't see any issue with this.

God, I think that is far worse, don’t you? “My child has cancer, here are my bank details”. Awful.

I think she's getting a bashing on here that's unfair. She made her money by gaining followers for her cleaning tips and her homeware range not by exploiting her child.

Parents who exploited their children are the likes of Britney Spears mother and father because they literally made money from her, Mrs Hinch made her name in her own right and it just so happens that her son is autistic.

I genuinely think her intentions are to raise awareness and lots of parents might seek a diagnosis off the back of high profile people speaking out. As a parent of an autistic child myself, who's now an adult, I wish there had been more awareness around back then because we didn't get the diagnosis until he was over 18.

I applaud people like her and Christine McGuinness for speaking out about it, not an easy thing to do when you have the internet judging you but it could help someone else.

openly monetising your child’s diagnosis for the general public.

Genuine question (as while I know who she is, and am not a fan, I don't follow her, haven't seen any posts), is she doing this? How? What specifically is she doing by sharing her DS diagnosis that is attracting a monetary gain?

Or are you saying this more loosely, that by sharing this personal information, she may attract more followers, which in turn yields revenue?

If it is the second, I think you are being judgmental - it may be possible for her to be using her brand on SM for monetary gain, but still also be sharing personal information without that in mind.

I agree. It’s nothing to be ashamed about but it’s his information to share or not. My DD is ASD / ADHD and I sometimes mention it if it explains behaviour or if it will help with support e.g. school. But I don’t broadcast it on my SM (not that I have many followers anyway).

Yes, I completely agree

I am not ashamed of my daughter’s diagnoses. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and I find it odd that people would think that parents protecting a child’s privacy = being ashamed

I talk to my family and friends, I share general
information about ASD and Tourette’s on my own private Facebook page, we take part in research studies, I let my daughter decide what she wants shared publicly as it’s her information to share.

I don’t share it on a monetised page that is followed by 4 + million strangers

I really think that in a few years time there's going to be a huge turn and the DC of people who have plastered their entire lives online for the world to see, celebrity or otherwise are going to stand up and reclaim the rights to their images, medical history etc etc. I know that's horribly explained, sorry. But with privacy laws and rights ever changing, the shit is going to hit the fan for a lot of parents and I'm all for it.

My dh has less than ten social media friends and I'd hit the roof if he took it upon himself to tell everyone any of my health conditions and I certainly never posted his diagnoses to my social media and I only have people I actually know too. He'd be angry. We're both old enough to understand consent and the implications of it.

A lot of family influencers start doing that to their children long before that have the mental capacity to understand just how vast their social media is. There'll be a scandal about it when these kids realise how their childhood and health was monetised.

I doubt a lot of the people thinking it's great that she's raising awareness would be ok to find a trusted family member had recorded you and posted about your specific struggles with your health and documented their lives living with your health conditions. It doesn't matter if it's autism, ibs, diabetes or anything.

Poor kid. She's literally taken away his right to choose who to tell/not to tell as he gets older.

I do feel sad for these kids whose lives are thrown out there to the World.

I get that it's how Mum makes her millions but I wouldn't want it for the World.

I think it’s utterly vile. The whole thing.
Kids should not be slapped on the internet with an audience of millions, updating their every move for money. Sharing medical details just goes further down this rabbit hole.
Absolutley awful. And every single one of us who continues to watch, subscribe and pay for this are guilty.
Every video you watch is adding to her money that she has earned much of via her unconsenting child.
How on Earth no regulations have yet been put in place i don’t know, but then with the current state of things and government in the UK it’s not massively surprising.
Ive seen her on TV doing interviews and watched a couple of videos before she had kids to see what it was all about but wouldn’t watch her or any other family influencers now.
The general public are giving her the audience she craves.

I mean, that is awful, but I haven't seen it. What I have observed is parents (or family / friends of the parents) fundraising where treatment might be needed that won't be covered at home.

I do feel a bit uncomfortable still about this (though have no experience, thankfully, and maybe if I did, I wouldn't) - locally to me, a well-known family in the area had a very difficult diagnosis for their (then) baby daughter. The tumour could be treated, but had a high recurrence rate; if did recur, it couldn't be further treated her and the only option was a potential treatment programme in the US. They fundraised a huge amount; there was a lot of pressure to donate - the local schools, sports clubs etc all provided opportunities for fundraising (meaning other possible recipients missed out). Thankfully the little girl is doing great, currently fully recovered. I think there was a plan about the money raised being appropriately donated, there was nothing untoward but I still felt the amount raised was so huge it was in excess of what was needed for the possible treatment and in that period (several years) other charities didn't have the same access to fundraising at all.

The only person who should ever be sharing their medical history is the person themselves.

Trying to ban gossip never works, you may as well try to ban sex. MH information about some children has been all over the news this morning. 1 kid was a victim of crime & 2 were perpetrators, the MH conditions of the children (victim or perpetrators) were not considered the reasons for the attack. Still, lots of medical conditions heard in court and so in the headlines. Anyone recall the hassle Tony Blair got for not revealing if his youngest got MMR, in about 2001 ? Ester Rantzen shared her medical situation the other day, is it ok for presenters to repeat the information or not?

I don’t think any photos or information on children should be broadcast on the internet.

That word 'broadcast' is doing some heavy lifting. Does that mean I shouldn't show a picture of my kid to my dad (lives thousands of miles away) on WhatsApp because it would be 'broadcasting' ? If WhatsApp is not ok, what about sharing a pic via email? If WhatsApp is ok, what about a pic of us together on Facebook or Strava ? What about the news story about the 12yo Palestinian girl who lost part of a leg due to violence in Gaza, got interviewed, then got killed in subsequent bombing. Is the idea she never was old enough to consent to have her image & medical history "broadcast" on the Internet still valid?

I find it interesting that people are really angry about an influencer doing this, but when an actor or a tv presenter mentions their children have ASD in a magazine interview (or makes an entire TV documentary about it like at least one celebrity I can think of) people don't rush to Mumsnet to complain.

Sally Philips' son has Down's Syndrome and she talks about it constantly and is praised for 'raising awareness', not slagged off for sharing his personal medical info.

Totally agree. But I think this about any picture or info of your children on social media.

Personally, I think a lot of unhappiness is caused by rites of passage being hogged by parents. My generation demonstrated our coming of age by getting tattoos, riding loud motorbikes and going to festivals.
Now my dentist rides a Harley, festivals have more over-fifties than Saga and little Jimmy getting 'Mum' discreetly inked on his bicep is overshadowed by his dad's sleeve.
IMHO Mrs H has definitely overstepped the mark, taking something that her child could have publicised at a a time of their choosing - IF they chose to do so.
Am I mad to feel that a lot of children, struggling to find their own place in the world feel the need to make extreme changes, just to get noticed.

Yes, I agree. This was my view too.

I suppose people may be basing their opinion on the way Mrs Hinch has monetised so much of her life to date, and assuming this is going to be another opportunity? But it may not be.

I think under 5s are seen faster. I raised concerns about my child when she was 14 months. She was diagnosed at 2 years 10 months. Diagnosis was only last year and this was NHS.

I hope your child is seen soon.

There is one fairly well known poster I know. Posted pics of her daughter a couple of times, and her back. None of her husband.

It’s her business but then she’ll sometimes post something to do with her daughter (slow story day?!) and one thing was random and unbelievable anyway… so why post it? It’s not like the child can consent and say “yes mummy, I give you permission to share my opinion on this!”.

Wether its right or not to share it clearly isn't rising awareness of how huge the autism spectrum is its just rising awareness of how their autism affects them

So what happens when he grows up and applies for a job or goes to university or meets someone he wants to have a relationship with.
He might not have wanted these people to know his diagnosis or might have wanted only to disclose when he felt comfortable.
He will now not have any element of choice or control over this information.

It's usually clear on sight when a person has Downs though, right?

My DS has ASD. He masks awfully well and most people would think he's just shy and a bit nerdy. It's up to HIM who he tells about his diagnosis, IMO.