Has having an ASD diagnosis helped your child?

[HildaSaysWhat]

I am sure that my son (13yrs) is on the autistic spectrum. As well as some easily identifiable behaviours we have a strong family history of men with ASD. He is high functioning and coping well at school. He thinks he is autistic. I am unsure whether to pursue a diagnosis or whether there is any benefit to that.

I know of two teen girls who had late diagnoses and had had terrible struggles with their mental health. On diagnosis there was a sort of light bulb sense of relief that there was an explanation for their struggles.

I would really appreciate any input or experience of this situation.

Have name changed for this but am long standing mnetter - cod, red rug, Pom bears anyone etc!

Thanks

There are pros and cons of both approaches (ie dx or no dx).

What are the cons of dx?

Stigmas don't go away on their own. It takes people refusing to be ashamed.

I guess for us things just seem very negative and difficult at the moment and I see a diagnosis as maybe leading to a more positive outcome in the long run. But of course that may not be the case at all. I hope we are doing the right thing, time will tell I guess.

If your son has autistic features but functions well and within the normal range of behaviours of his peer group it is unlikely that an assessor would feel it necessary to identify him as being autistic. Autism is a spectrum, everyone exhibits autistic behaviours if you can think off any specific support he would be in need of I wouldn't spend £3000 having him assessed.

I don't know where to start. I've always suspected it but school have always said my ds is a late developer. Now he's in his teens the gap between him and his peers is very clear (socially and academically). I'm not sure what constitutes 'high functioning' but he's academically capable so finding the right school is really hard. The assessment process also seems to be pretty inconclusive and even if a diagnosis is reached very little advice as to what the right kind of school is. Is there such a service?

Even "mild" ASD means some serious limitations, which can't be overcome just managed. A diagnosis will be unpleasant, traumatic, even at first, but in the long run will make things easier as he comes to terms and learns to accept these limitations.

Reading through your posts though I can't judge if he is on the "spectrum" or not. He could be a bit introverted, but not to the point of being autistic. But if he is, he needs to know. Because he will realize, if he hasn't already, that he has many limitations compared to most of his peers, and some kind of diagnosis will make that easier to deal with.

Reading with interest. Finding this thread very helpful.

I wouldn't say a child, who to quote OP "is bright, sociable and has a good group of friends" has ASD. ASD is a social communication disorder. Those words could not be used to describe anybody I know who has ASD or ADHD. I wish lol. I agree with a PP, that everyone has traits which could be classed as ASD traits. The key is having enough traits to fulfil the horribly named, triad of impairment. If your son is functioning within the normal range & just exhibits some ASD traits then it is unlikely he would be dx ASD.

Yes, and it turned main stream school life from a increasing struggle every day, into somewhere he could cope with
Diagnosed at 17 with ASD and DCD (finally, after much struggle to be heard on my part and a huge amount of disbelief because he was "so sociable and made eye contact 🙄 yes he's very good at masking! ) he has just today got 3 A levels (A, A, C) and is off to his choice of Uni in 5 weeks 😁
Which I really never thought would happen, two years ago.
It really does help, in many many ways.