Talking About Diagnosis with Your Child on the Spectrum

Lynda Geller, Ph.D.
Clinical Director, Spectrum Services
May 10, 2012

What should children know about their diagnosis and when should they be told? Understanding yourself is the first step in becoming a self advocate, a skill that is very important in establishing an independent adulthood, and in developing empathic abilities.  However, we need to give children information at their developmental level and decide when this disclosure to them and others will be a positive influence.

Lynda Geller, Ph.D., served on the faculties of Georgetown University, Stony Brook University and NYU Medical Schools for 25 years, where she worked on the development of clinical centers providing a wide array of services for children and adults with autism spectrum conditions.  Dr. Geller has a clinical practice in New York City and founded Spectrum Services, a multidisciplinary group dedicated to providing social, psychological, psychiatric, speech and language, vocational training and employment, family support, consulting and coaching services for children and adults with Asperger Syndrome and related conditions.