Explaining death to an autistic child

[Bushkkins]

Hi, we lost our dog about a month ago and my 4 1/2 year old nephew has started asking where she is. When it first happened, we said she was in the vets as she was unwell he seemed to accept that but recently he is asking where she is again. He is slightly autistic and therefore understanding the concept of death may be more difficult for him. Has anyone experienced and been through this? Many thanks

Ime (relatively limited but still) an autistic child will have no more difficulties understanding the "facrs" of death than a nt one (unless there are learning difficulties involved also).

More difficult may be conversations about what happens after you die, if you want to talk about souls going off to heaven or floating up to the sky. Perhaps its coincidence but all the autistic children I know are atheists and prefer a scientific approach to death to a spiritual one.

Just be honest. Rufus was at the vet and she couldn’t make him better, and he died. That means his body stopped working.

You need to be honest. Some autistic children (not all autistic people are the same there is a saying, if you have met one autistic person you have met one autistic person) are very factual about it. My friends son described his nan as extinct when she died and wasn't upset at all