Adapting to your child's diagnoses
Posted on 01 Oct, 2024 | 2:48 PM
Keynotes: For parents and carers, social support, diagnoses, facing the unknown
Read time: 2 minutes
Receiving your child’s diagnosis can be a lot to take in for a parent and may lead to feelings of grief, anger and self-blame. However, acknowledging the importance of adapting to change in both your personal life as well as your child’s can at times be dismissed. In that moment when you received the autism diagnosis of your child, you may have felt a roller coaster of emotions including anger, denial, and grief which may have led to confusion and isolation which can impact your mental health and the nurturing of your child (review the mental health and stress blog for more information).
These experiences may arise due to feelings of self-blame and guilt such as blaming yourself for not spotting the signs earlier, and what you did or did not do. However, being accepting of yourself and your child’s diagnosis is a vital first step to building a greater understanding and awareness of autism and what it may mean for your child and family. Furthermore, coming to terms with your child’s diagnosis can help with the management of your emotions.
In doing this, as a parent, you can be enabled to promote caregiving which is adapted to your child’s unique characteristics.
Uncertainty about the future
As a parent you want what’s best for your child and so receiving the diagnosis will leave you with many questions about what your child’s future will look like and what support they will need, which is completely normal.
All these questions and uncertainty about your child’s future can be daunting especially if some can’t be answered straight away, due to the heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder which leads to anxiety and uncertainty.
Therefore, it is important to ensure you have people to talk to in your circle because sharing these burdens can be helpful.
Having a supportive social network
Having a strong supportive network is important for you mental wellbeing and for the care of your child and family. A lack of a supportive network can lead to social withdrawal and social isolation especially when it feels like no one understands what you are going through which can negatively impact your parenting and overall mental health (further details provided in the social support blog).
The good thing is that you are not alone, and you do not need to endure this journey alone. Charities such as Autism UK and others which are linked below have events for families of children and young people with autism which allow you to network with families who have gone through what you are going through or who are in a similar position to you.
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