Your child has received an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) or autism diagnosis.
This means the evidence indicates your child was born with brain level (neurodevelopmental) differences.
Autism is a lifelong condition which affects how people communicate and interact with the world around them.
Statistics
According to the National Autistic Society, one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.
National Autistic Society what is autism
You can watch the National Autistic Society’s video on what autism is below.
Video
Some families have found this video, ‘Amazing Things Happen’ helpful when explaining the diagnosis to their child and for sharing the diagnosis with wider family members. What is important is that people on the autism spectrum develop and maintain a positive identity. (Note, we would always advise that parents watch this first to decide whether it is appropriate for your child specifically).
Currently, the proportion of boys whohave an ASC diagnosis compared to girls is approximately 3:1 (according to the National Autistic Society). However, this is thought to be related to lower diagnostic rates of girls; girls presenting differently to boys.
Autism looks different in girls than boys and this is most probably related to the fact that we interact with and socialise with females differently to males.
Autism is a spectrum condition and affects people in different ways. Like all people, autistic people have their own strengths and difficulties.
Why is it called a spectrum condition? Where on the spectrum is my child?
Many families over the years have asked us ‘where on the spectrum is my child?’ However, this is a question that is not possible to answer as the answer is, they will have strengths and challenges across many different continuums.
Their cognitive profile (which refers to skills such as attention, processing speed, memory, etc.) is often described as ‘spiky’ or ‘uneven’ in that they will have relative strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others whereas neurotypical children tend to have a more ‘even’ profile.
Individual differences
Autistic children can have a wide range of temperaments and learning ability. Some children on the autism spectrum have a learning disability (generally accepted to be an IQ of less than 70) and some children have an average or above averageIQ level.
The diagnosis of ‘Aspergers’ used to be used to refer to children with high intellect or without any learning difficulties. However, the problem with this diagnosis is that it often meant that people with an Aspergers diagnosis were not able to access services that were specifically for people deemed to have a ‘disability’; it also appeared to be descriptive of those who were ‘high functioning’ and not always indicative of the level of need a person with an Aspergers diagnosis had.
Video
This short film, ‘Talking in Pictures’, addresses the common stereotypes around what autism is. You can watch the video below.
Why does ASC occur?
ASC is a life long condition.
It is important to point out it is not caused by parents. Many parents have asked us whether they did something wrong during pregnancy or in their parenting and triggered the difficulties they see in their child.
For some families, their concerns about their child’s development, and potentially a diagnosis, coincides with the timings of childhood vaccinations. Extensive research over the last two decades has established there is no link between childhood vaccinations and receiving an ASC diagnosis.
Video
This video from Nurturing Neurodiversity discusses a few important things that professionals may not always tell you during the emotionally difficult time of receiving an ASC diagnosis, based on this family’s own experiences.
You can watch the video below