You walk out of an appointment where it has been confirmed that your child is neurodivergent. What now?
You leave the appointment with the same child that you walked in with. Their challenges are the same challenges that they had yesterday, yet you do feel different. For some this is relief, whilst for others it's conflict or confusion. Above all a feeling of 'doing right' by your child going forward. Everyone puts a lot of pressure on themselves to get it right but really you are just entering a new learning curve and the more people you can get on board the better!
You know your children better than anyone else but now you know why, you can work out how to help. This could be helping your child overcome learning, social and emotional barriers or educating and informing those around them. If you can pinpoint your child's challenges, then you can be very specific in informing others on how best to help them. Sometimes the smallest adjustments by those around your child can make the biggest difference to their outcomes.
I think it is equally important to educate other people as it is teaching your child strategies to navigate the world around them. As every child is completely individual, then each approach must be individual too.
Using my unique perspective from both a professional and personal point of view, I hope to help young people and their families to understand their diagnosis, become confident in identifying challenges (as well as celebrating strengths.) and become advocates for neurodiversity who can pass on valuable information to those around them in order to create a happy, safe space where they can thrive and reach their full potential.
Written by Helen Riggs, Social Communication Specialist. Helen has over 20 years experience as an ASD therapist and level 3, Specialist Teaching Assistant with a specialist interest in speech and language support. A brochure outlining full details of the service and Helen's experience is available to download below.
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