Do I Get My Child Diagnosed?
This is a question that parents of children they think may have
social difficulties have to ask themselves. And it is a really
difficult question to answer.
The type of questions that parents ask themselves:
* Why does my child need to be diagnosed? * How is an autism
diagnosis going to affect my child in the future? * Am I
labelling my child? * What will happen after I get my child
diagnosed? * Can the diagnosis be removed?
The route for a diagnosis starts when parents believe their
children may have a social problem. The likelihood is that they
will look up a set of symptoms from a doctor or from the
internet and try and match the child with the different types of
behavior. Once the parents are fairly sure that their child fits
a certain condition, they then look for some confirmation. This
is where the difficulties start, because there are very few ways
to get any definite assessment without actually diagnosing the
child.
If you do have an assessment done which says that your child
does have a social disorder, then you are faced with the
question, do you get a formal diagnosis? The way parents have
their children diagnosed is typically done by a specialist or
group of specialists that assess them against a set of behaviors
and abilities. If the child fits a certain number of behaviors
or abilities then they can be formally diagnosed as having a
social disorder or syndrome.
Here are some benefits and disadvantages:
Benefits
* Once you have a diagnosis you can move on and stop guessing *
Helps parents to know how to deal with the condition * Helps
Specialists and teachers to deal with the child in the correct
way
Disadvantages
* Possible label they will have forever? * Can be used as an
excuse for blaming the child (e.g. at school or with siblings) *
Is it necessary? Especially when dealing with high functioning
autism * The diagnosis is subjective and may not be accurate
Getting a diagnosis is very much a decision for the parents and
should be considered in detail if the child seems to be a
borderline case. The best thing to do is to face realities about
your child and whether they really need help. If they do then
you could be making an important step forward in getting your
child diagnosed because a diagnosis will probably lead to a
clear plan of development. On the other hand you must not let a
diagnosis be in vain.
Give it time and avoid making hasty decisions. If you feel a
sense of time running out then you probably need a diagnosis to
help you move on. You must also be open minded, don't make
decisions based on emotion but remain factual and clinical about
it. If you can do these things then you will be making the right
decision.