ASD diagnosis today.

[wlv12]

Hello,

My son, 7 has finally been diagnosed with ASD today. He's been under assessment for a huge 21 months until now, in the process he has been diagnosed with ADHD, dyspraxia and hyper mobility. I thought I'd feel ... well .... upset or devestated, I've seen so many posts from people on diagnosis who felt unexpectedly upset on diagnosis.
But I just feel numb. It's been such a long journey up until now, is it shock, or because I'd been expecting it for so long? He goes to a specialist school already so nothing will change, it's just sinking in.

Well I don't really have a dx yet - but when I was told ds was not growing out this I was all over the place. Relived I was being listened to, upset I was right all alone, glad that part of the journey was over and yet upset to be set on a long path. You might feel a bit of everything. But the positive is the wondering part is mostly gone ( to be replaced with more wondering about the future lol!). It's not really a end point dx is it? So I think it's normal to feel not a lot at the point

I jumped for joy when the psychiatrist finally said the words "Dd3 has met the criteria for a diagnosis of Asd". After 3.5 years of feeling like we were never going to get anywhere.

Then we came home and I felt lost and empty for a while, all my spare time had been spent keeping diaries, writing notes and letters, reading etc. And once she had the diagnosis I didnt need to do that anymore.

We were glad for Dd3 that she had the dx that she so badly needed and that would allow her to be who she is and not have to worry about what other people think.

It has been very positive for us but I wouldnt say it is the end of your journey, for me it has been the beginning of a new one.

Be kind to yourself and keep coming on here for great support and advise if you need it.

Good luck

Go easy on yourself.

Greatest feeling knowing your instincts have been right all along. You should never doubt yourself from now on because of this. Don't worry, there will be plenty of fights from this point forward, but I hope you had a celebratory drink on Weds because its the first victory. Xxx