How is autism actually treated? You hear people saying the diagnosis changed their kids life or it’s important to be diagnosed early, but how?

Question

How is autism actually treated? You hear people saying the diagnosis changed their kids life or it’s important to be diagnosed early, but how?

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Answer 1

I’m not autistic, but I do have ADHD, and there is a bit of symptom overlap. So not quite the same. Still, when you’re neurodivergent, it helps MASSIVELY to know that that’s what’s going on.

You can’t learn coping skills for issues you don’t even know you have. Executive dysfunction (difficulty starting or switching tasks) is a huge issue for both ADHD and autistic people, and knowing that we have that and aren’t just “being lazy” can help us create new coping skills so we can still get stuff done.

There’s also the relief of knowing that other people have the same symptoms that you have. That you aren’t uniquely broken. That yes, life is harder for you than it is for most other people, but it’s harder in specific ways that you can learn to manage.