“I Think My Child Might Be Autistic Or ADHD… What Do I Do?”
Advice for parents and caregivers who aren’t sure where to start
Don’t panic
Whether or not your child is Autistic or ADHD, they will still be the same amazing person they were yesterday, and they’ll be the same person tomorrow.
Whether they are formally diagnosed or not, some of the supports, accommodations, and strategies may still be helpful.
The priorities should be:
- Ensuring your child understands that you love, appreciate, and celebrate them no matter what.
- Finding the right supports and accommodations to meet their needs, regardless of what diagnosis they may receive or neurotype they may identify with.
If you suspect your child might be Autistic or ADHD, there are a few different routes you can take to help determine the best supports.
Talk to the school
If you suspect your child is Autistic or ADHD and they are school-age, then it’s likely you’ve already heard from the school. Ask them for their observations and recommendations.
If your child is struggling in school, they should be offering supports through their resource, guidance, social work, or psychology departments.
If you are in Canada, the ideal course of action is to have your child added to the school psychologist’s waitlist. This way you can have a full psychoeducational assessment done, which can provide valuable information to both yourself and the school.
You can pursue an assessment through a private psychologist and it will be faster. Unfortunately, this will be very expensive and insurance usually only covers a portion of it.
Further, schools are not required to follow recommendations from outside clinicians, but they are required to follow the directives set out by their own division’s psychologist.
Speak to your doctor
If you’re fortunate enough to have a pediatrician, they should be (and are hopefully) knowledgeable about neurodevelopmental disorders and differences.
Depending on the doctor, and on your child’s current struggles, the pediatrician may be willing to diagnose your child, or refer you to a child psychiatrist for further assessment.
Access to a child psychiatrist is very limited in most provinces in Canada, and the wait can be very long. If you and your child are struggling, please ask about additional resources you can pursue in the mean time.
This can include Occupational Therapy (OT), counselling, parent support, and tutoring, among others.
Explore community resources
Most municipal or provincial health and mental health clinics will offer some form of support to families. The type and quality, and how long the wait is, will differ by region.
I’ve found that in most systems, one side does not know what the other is doing. There may be fantastic resources you could access that no one has told you about because they simply don’t know.
An online search can be very helpful, and ask local families for their suggestions and recommendations.
Find your community
There are many different ways to discover community support. There are books, podcasts, online forums, in-person groups, and more.
Some of the best sources of information are adults who themselves are Autistic and ADHD and are willing to share their knowledge. They can help you gain understanding and insight into your child’s experiences.
It can be incredibly freeing to find people who have been through a similar journey and can offer guidance and share their experiences.
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
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