Do & Don't

https://www.autismspeaks.org/
Don’t say, “I’m sorry.”

https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2016/08/25/what-do-when-your-friend%E2%80%99s-child-diagnosed-autism - To read more click on......................

What to do when your friend’s child is diagnosed with autism

This guest post is by Katie Read who is a writer, Marriage and Family Therapist, and mom to two young boys with autism. You can read more about her family at, Motherhood, Autism, and Shoulding All Over Myself or follow her on Facebook.

Having received the diagnosis twice, I have compiled the best advice from my personal experiences and around the internet to help you help your friends through the early days (without putting your foot in your mouth!).

I get it.

It’s awkward and uncomfortable and no one knows how to respond.

Here are some basics to get you started...

Do:

Call your friend. Ask her how she’s feeling. Let her know that she can vent or cry to you. We are all afraid of being downers to other people. Knowing someone can handle the hard stuff means everything.

Bring over a cup of coffee. Or a casserole. Or a bottle of wine. Or fourteen Cadbury bars. I’ll always remember the friend who came by with Starbucks when she heard. The little things really do count the most at these hard times.

Keep inviting your friend to all things you would normally do together. Storytime on Tuesdays? Invite her. Playdate after school? Invite her. Your friend will decide if an outing is too much—but the worst thing is for her to feel isolated or rejected by the lack of invitation.

Treat her child the same way you always have. If this is your nephew and you have always had free reign to correct his behavior, keep it up! We want our kids to have as typical a life experience as possible, which means typical experiences with every day people. Unless or until your friend asks you to treat their child differently, just keep up business as usual.