I often hear the phrase why would you want to label your child? Why do you want to label them with ADHD? Why would you want to have them labelled as autistic? I’m not sure whether to get my child labelled with ADHD/autism. So I figured I would address this here as it is a topic that I discuss with others on a regular basis.
I will be honest it is a bugbear of mine when autism or ADHD is described this way, not the person doing it just the stigma attached to it all.
If you took a child to the doctor for asthma for example at no point would anybody question you as to why you were trying to label that child with asthma. They would encourage you all the way because asthma can kill if it is not properly diagnosed and supported. Well guess what so can ADHD and autism. They both carry high anxiety as a comorbidity (alongside other mental health diagnoses). Undiagnosed and/or unsupported autistic teens and adults have a higher than usual rate of suicide. The reality is in this country (UK) there is no help or support from professional bodies without a formal diagnosis, at least that is what we have found.
It is not a label, a label is something you put on something as a warning. It is a diagnosis. Something that allows the person diagnosed to better understand their condition and themselves. Something that allows professionals to better understand and support that individual and something that allows parents and carers to better understand and therefore love their child (whatever the age) a little more.
