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Hi there

I am the parent of a 8 year old boy who I believe to be on the autistic spectrum, probably Aspergers. I am divorced from his mum. He gets support from school but to further support he needs a diagnosis. His mum is preventing the diagnosis because she believes he will be labelled and it will close doors and block opportunities in later life.

Can anyone offer advice on this?
What support can you get without a diagnosis?

thanks

Vernon

Hello Vernon.

I am happy to hear that you are concerned about your son, and that you want to help him (that's more than my dad ever did for me). You must convince your ex that labels are not important, and that your son will not get any opportunities if he doesn't get the added help and support in his academic career. Fight for your son's needs, because I can tell you right now that if he isn't on the autism spectrum, but he has something else, he would still need help to succeed in life. Not doing anything about it will make him suffer.

Copy and paste this into an email to her if you have to, it is inquisitive that he gets the help he needs early on.

I agree with Makayla.

Growing up as an Aspie without a diagnosis or even a clue what Autism is was VERY difficult for me. So many things made sense after I found out about it, and I'm finally getting the help and understanding I needed for most of my life.

Great, thanks for the replies so far.
I will cut'n'paste replies like Makala's and email them to my ex.
I am sorry to hear Sparx had to wait some years for support

Please give me some of examples of extra support I can for my son when a diagnosis is confirmed.
I am thinking of support directly applicable to the school situation.

Welkome to WP

Mick

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I was diagnosed to have Asperger's sometime last year. Before then, I'd never heard of it. I've learned a LOT about myself in the past year or so. From what I've noticed so far, people with asperger's do sometimes not like the fact that they've been "labelled" with a disability of some sort at first, but after they learn about it they tend to have a much more positive view of this label, and of themselves. Some even seem to take pride in it.

Also, if your son is on the autistic spectrum, whether he is diagnosed or not, he is who he is, and the label can in no way restrict his progress because his personality is as such anyway. I'm NOT saying that it's a bad thing, although I'm kept from certain opportunities myself, not because I have a label (most don't even know about it), but because of my personality. It can't hurt to get your son diagnosed, especially if he could use the help that he would be entitled to afterward. The "label" doesn't matter, your son matters.