Arturo Corrales, PsyD: As a licensed child psychologist, we’re involved and engaged in diagnosing children and folks on the Spectrum with autism. One of the questions that I often get or the current concerns that I hear from families is how that will impact others’ view of them in the future, how that will impact you know in the future whether they get into a college or university or not, how that will impact their child when applying for future jobs.
Arturo Corrales, PsyD: The discussion that we often have is the importance of having community and support around them, and one of those ways of having others understand and support you is potentially by divulging those diagnostic labels; that’s completely up to you. That’s your information, that’s your identity to either divulge or not, but many times what I often lead with families is the Importance of being open and honest. If your child is now transitioning to college or if they’re moving into high school or even if they’re at the elementary school level, the importance of being able to be supported in the areas that you need to be supported whether that means academically whether that means socially, or whether that means with your sensory sensitivities with your environment.
Arturo Corrales, PsyD: What I hear from families is their concern about their child having this Scarlet Letter moving forward, and that everybody is going to know about this diagnosis. What we also often talk through is that about the importance of identity and the importance of difference, right.
Arturo Corrales, PsyD: Everybody in this world we’re all different, whether you know it because of our physical characteristics or our neurodiversity. Yes, we’re different, and that doesn’t make us bad. That also comes from a discussion of early diagnosis, right? The importance of early intervention, and we know that the earlier we can diagnose a child then the sooner we can get them into supportive services so that the child is functioning at their optimum level.
