[Quick Tip] Bringing Up Autism Fail
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Why did the clinic lose a family after bringing up autism?
Recently, we lost a family in our clinic because we brought up autism. This was a family who had actually been coming in for a while, and this was the first time that we had had this conversation with them. We always judge based off of what we feel is going to be best for the family, whether this is a topic we want to bring up on day one or we want to give them a little bit of time before bringing it up. It totally depends on what we feel is going to be best for the family. So I went online, I shared the story of how we lost this family because we brought up autism. And I would say I got 90% support, 10% absolutely ripped to shreds. And today I'm going to share with you what the arguments were for each side.
What's up, everyone? And welcome to Making the Shift for Autistic Kids.
We're an SLP couple from California with four boys.
And we're here every week to bring you neuro-affirming tips, tricks, and tools. Are you ready to make the shift? Let's do this.
Okay, so as I said, we brought up autism with a family.
What are the main arguments from people who questioned discussing autism early?
This was a family we'd been seeing for a while, and that family immediately decided to leave our clinic, that it wasn't going to be the best fit for them. And first of all, let's talk about what the haters said, because that's always more fun. Okay? So... Okay, this first group of people, I wouldn't necessarily call them haters. They were just questioning why we brought up autism in the first place. So they were more curious on why did you have to bring up autism? Why did you feel like you needed the child to have a diagnosis? And I was actually really surprised by the number of people who felt that way, who were like, I would just see the child without having the family pursue a diagnosis. Okay, but here's why it matters.
our therapy is different for an autistic child versus a child who is neurotypical and if we bring a family into our clinic and we don't have any conversation with them about what their child's communication style is and what their child's social differences are then we're gonna have goals that aren't right for the child right if we have a neurotypical child we might expect be expecting more neurotypical joint attention, for example, more eye contact, versus if we are working with an autistic child, we might expect that they have autistic joint attention, which might mean that we're seeing a little less eye contact. It might mean that they are putting a little bit more focus on the objects or the toys in front of them and visually referencing us less, right?
So we're not going to be aligned in our therapy with what the goal is.
How does diagnosing autism affect therapy goals and strategies?
And I really do feel like it is such a disservice to families not to tell them when we know their child is autistic. I asked families on social media, I did a poll and said, what do you what something you wish you knew as a parent of an autistic child? And so many parents said, I wish I knew sooner. I wish no one was afraid to tell me. And that response might be surprising because we know that the conversation is not always easy. But if you think about how are you serving the family in the best way possible, and it is not withholding information from them. If you know that their child is autistic, it is not withholding that information from them. Of course, there are sensitive ways that we can deliver this information.
And that's a different story. But I think that I have learned that it's better to tell a family. It's better for the family to know. It's better for them to start working toward acceptance and creating a plan for their child. And it's better for us because we can talk about, now that we know how your child's brain works, we know what their sensory differences are and their social differences and their communication differences and their emotional regulation. And we can know so much more about how to help them because we know more about how their brain works.
Why do some listeners criticize sharing private family stories online?
Okay, so the real people who were tearing me to shreds were the ones who were saying, why did you share this story online? This is so personal, and it's so unfair to the family.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why did the clinic lose a family after bringing up autism?
0:01–1:17
2
What are the main arguments from people who questioned discussing autism early?
1:17–2:48
3
How does diagnosing autism affect therapy goals and strategies?
2:48–4:03
4
Why do some listeners criticize sharing private family stories online?
4:03–5:24
5
How can sharing these conversations help normalize autism discussions?
5:24–6:51
6
What supportive responses did the host receive and why are they important?
6:51–8:15
7
What final advice does the host give to parents and therapists about autism conversations?
8:15–9:44
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
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Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)