How to explain paed visit, assessing for asd/PDA, to anxious 6yo.

[Jacksterbear]

Our first appointment with the developmental paed has come through, for a couple of weeks' time. Yay!

I wondered if anyone has any helpful suggestions as to how to explain the visit to ds. Since anxiety is his main issue, the last thing we want to do is give him cause to worry that there is something "wrong" with him.

When he saw the GP for a referral, we told him it was a check-up, and that everyone has these to check they are healthy - and in fact the GP did just do a very basic physical check, plus a few questions about how he was getting on at school, etc (I had already seen the GP without DS present to explain the detail).

TIA for any thoughts.

Can you just say it's another follow-up check-up?

I doubt it would be a dxing visit anyway.

Just had a similar experience, although for queried ADD rather than ASD. I just told him at last minute as he went into school ( so limited time for questions) that I would be coming back to get him as we were going to see a doctor to check that he was healthy. I then let him sign himself out at the school office and pointed out names of children he knew going out to hospital, docs, optician, dentist etc in recent weeks. It then seemed entirely normal to him, and very nice paed was most helpful in weighing him, measuring, checking reflexes, listening to heartbeat etc which is all the stuff DS thinks should happen at the doctor's.

Thanks for the replies. We have been told the appointment will include the Griffiths Developmental Scales for DS, and the 3DI structured parental interview for us. I don't know much about either, but I'm not sure whether it's better for DS to know as little as possible in advance so as for the tests to give as accurate a result as possible? (i.e. so he's not thinking he has to answer questions or do activities in a certain way to "prove" he's "normal" or whatever... if that makes any sense?? )

p.s. sorry if that's completely ignorant of me; I don't know if the tests he will be given are the sort which could be subject to (intentional or unintentional) manipulation, iyswim, i.e. him giving the sort of answer he thinks he ought to be giving rather than the real one. I'm not explaining myself very well.

e.g. when we went to see the GP and the GP asked him how he was getting on at school, he said "fine", presumably because he thought that was the answer he ought to be giving. Obviously I realise the tests the paediatrician will be giving him will be more sophisticated than that, however!