Autism Spectrum Disorders

I left my son at a birthday party last week. First off, let me get the YAYYYYY out of the way. It was the first party he's been invited to in years. When I got there, I learned that no other parents were staying. The only adults there were family (aunts, uncles, etc) and while this isn't a problem with my other kids, with an ASD kid, you know it can be a problem. The mom didn't know, and I was torn -- say something? Say nothing? I decided to go with "say nothing and see what happens." I left my cellphone # and never got a call! I picked him up 3.5 hours later, and he was getting along great. And by getting along, I mean happily co-existing, not really playing with..but that's okay, he was happy and it worked!

What do you tell other parents? Do you tell random parents like this? Have you told your child's classmates/parents, or do you tell everyone only when you need to?

Curious how other moms/dads handle this.

Lily

I've worked very hard at educating my son's classmates since he was in kindergarten. For about the first 3 or 4 years of his schooling, I'd go to the classroom and hold a session teaching about autism, disability and acceptance.

After those first few years, any more teaching became unnecessary because the kids all taught each other about him.

The parents? I've never held back on talking about autism. Someone here has a signature with the saying "to not speak of autism makes autism unspeakable" (paraphrasing) and this is my belief.

Hello as a Nanny to a child that has Autism. I have learned to be quiet when it comes to him. I only tell people when it is absolutely necessary. When I ride with him on the bus, the train etc I never say anything unless someone asks or he does something that may make people wonder. Other than that I never disclose any information on this child. To me it is no ones business and as a Nanny I need to keep everything private.