How do I explain the death of a family pet...

[PersonalClown]

to an 8 year old autistic boy??

My parents had the difficult choice of having the beloved family pooch PTS last night.
She had been with us 10 years. Ds adored her and would spend hours playing in the garden with her.

How to I explain to him that she's gone with out using all the confusing euphemisms such as gone to sleep, gone away etc

I don't want to go into detail but he's only mentally around 4 years old so I don't want to frighten him either.

Say that he was not well and died.

Honesty is the best policy. It will prepare him for the next time.

How

I'd say that her body was old and poorly so the vet couldn't fix it. The vet gave her special medicine to stop her hurting. She won't be coming back now.

DS had ASD and was told similar when GPs dog was put down. He is quite matter of fact and once he'd got the facts straight, he was ok although he felt sad. HTH.

I would be honest. With NT DD and ASD DS1 we talked about getting old, slowing down, everything ending. And then talked about bodies breaking down and becoming part of the earth again etc - very Lion King

DS1 did find it helpful to see and touch the departed moggy, but not all children would I shouldn't think. He also did not express any sadness, just curiosity.

Sorry for your parents, it's a hard thing to deal with for them too. x