My Grandniece

[Leto729]

Is going through some diagnosis and might have Asperger's. She is seven years old. She is having problems in school. Just just found out from My Niece. She is worried about getting Her diagnosed and stigmatized because of the diagnosis. Just spent 2 hour 15 minutes on the phone with My Niece Jennifer. I told You can only do Your best for Your daughter. She will be going through the school and military. The child has had many medical problems since birth.

[Calandale]

Oh boy. I think that things have gotten better though.
I mean, we were stigmatized WITHOUT a DX, and I
doubt that it gets much worse.

[Leto729]

That is why She getting diagnosed.

[Eclair]

The only way a child can get stigmatised is if the parents suddenly want their child to be treated 'special'.  Thinking back to when I was a child, diagnosis would have given my parents power, rather than made me feel somehow 'not right'.  I guess it depends how many setbacks your grandniece has.  But diagnosis would have saved my parents a LOT of time and given them some power.

I hope it all goes well.  AS kids should be treated as a true gift really, when you think about it.  They have a lot to give.

[Leto729]

I think Jen, is just scared of doing anything that would make it worse for Her daughter. She is becoming a RN Herself. She gets nursing magazines even saw a study that correlated seizures with Asperger's. I know She will do Her best for Her daughter. I believe Her daughter will not be stigmatised either with the family support around. She Herself as always felt that there was something different about Her daughter. She almost got diagnosed a couple years ago but the doctors wanted to hold off on it.

I don't think they would treat Her as "special" not the way Jennifer talks anyway. She just wants Her daughter to live a normal enough Life now and in the future.

[The_P]

The only way a child can get stigmatised is if the parents suddenly want their child to be treated 'special'.  Thinking back to when I was a child, diagnosis would have given my parents power, rather than made me feel somehow 'not right'.  I guess it depends how many setbacks your grandniece has.  But diagnosis would have saved my parents a LOT of time and given them some power.

I hope it all goes well.  AS kids should be treated as a true gift really, when you think about it.  They have a lot to give.

But I've been taking a lot of government money for nearly eight years.

:O

[maldoror]

I felt stigmatized when I was DX'd. They dragged me into the psych office kicking and screaming, but I'm hardly a representative sample.

[SovaNu]

AS kids should be treated as a true gift really, when you think about it.  They have a lot to give.

 

[Callaway]

The only way a child can get stigmatised is if the parents suddenly want their child to be treated 'special'.  Thinking back to when I was a child, diagnosis would have given my parents power, rather than made me feel somehow 'not right'.  I guess it depends how many setbacks your grandniece has.  But diagnosis would have saved my parents a LOT of time and given them some power.

I hope it all goes well.  AS kids should be treated as a true gift really, when you think about it.  They have a lot to give.

I absolutely agree with you that all kids should be treated as true gifts, whether or not they have AS, but I don't get what is wrong with parents who want their ASD diagnosed children to be treated 'special'.  My daughter has 'special' needs and I want those needs to be met by her school.  I certainly don't want them to ever put her in a 'time-out room' again, which they might do for a 'typical' child who was never abused by being forced to stay in what was essentially a closet for most of her school day.

You are correct when you say that a diagnosis gives the parents power and I think it would be wrong to not use this power when dealing with the school.  Because of my daughter's diagnosis, she attends a special school for autistic children.  I think she would be in an entirely different place that would not meet her needs if she did not have the diagnosis.


Kevv, Jennifer sounds like a really good mother.  Her daughter is lucky.  I don't think she will be stigmatized by a diagnosis of AS.  I think that she would be much more stigmatized without one, because the school would treat her like a 'typical' child and they would not meet her needs.  I'm very glad you took the time to talk to Jennifer about this.

[SovaNu]

you said what i hadn't made into words, Callaway. i agree. AS kids do need special treatment. only, it has the be the right kind of special treatment. like you said, having their needs met. i have been scarred for life because of my AS, years and years of memories that i try to keep out of my head, i dunno if a diagnosis would have helped me avoid the mistakes i made, probably not, but maybe it'd have made people more understanding. all in all i feel a diagnosis would be irrelevant regarding any stigma, more stigma i've gotten from just being myself. it's like "ultimate freak" burned onto my forehead. my point is AS itself causes the trauma, or the way it clashes with an NT world.