Telling your child they have autism, asperger’s, ADHD, or related disability.

Your child has been in therapy and/or receives special services in school; but does your child know why? Sooner or later (and it’s usually sooner) children with special needs realize they are different from their neruo-typical peers. How do they know? They feel it emotionally, and it is seen behaviorally. They become frustrated, they isolate, rebel, lose interest in others, give up, or just shut down. 



Guilt and fear of their child’s response are two of the most common barriers preventing parents from telling their child. The other is, not knowing how. 



It can be a daunting task, but you don’t have to do it alone. Giving your child the gift of self-awareness will help them maximize their strengths and understand what they need to do to compensate for their challenges. Self-awareness is the first step towards self-advocacy and self-determination.



In all my experiences helping kids with various disabilities learn about who they are, including talking directly about labels and diagnosis, the responses have been 100% positive.