let’s talk labels
I just had a conversation with a good friend about labels when it comes to diagnoses such as autism. We discussed how scary a label is as people make judgements based on their pre-conceived notions and how their perceptions affect their behavior towards our children. Autism in particular has recently had negative perceptions in the news and in the general public’s opinion when people don’t know any better. I personally used to have a very negative perception of children with autism due to pure ignorance as I did not know any better. Now I’ll call my sister all the time and say amazing autism and people with autism are, they’re like super heroes. But before I became more educated, that label used to terrify me. It can be nerve wracking to imagine that people who interact with our children, especially people such as family members and teachers, could change the way they interact with our children and they way they perceive our children based on their preconceived notions of what autism is.
As scary as labels are, you cannot obtain certain services and therapies for your child without the diagnosis. And we all know how important early intervention is, which means you don’t want to delay in getting the diagnosis to then get the services and therapies. I think the best solution to this right now at the parent level is to educate our loved ones as well as those who interact with our children. Once people understand that the label of autism is not a negative thing, their perceptions can change, and with that any concerns of how they interact with our children.
