Mom needs help

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I have posted a more detailed version of this question in the teen's section, so if you want more information, please look there.

Basically, my 8 year old daughter, who has been diagnosed with ASD since she was 2, has started noticing that the ways in which she is "different" are not a "normal" kind of different (like, "everybody's different.") I am having a hard time figuring out what to tell her and how to tell her.

She does not know of her diagnosis, but does know that she has problems with "social smarts." She also knows that she gets special help from the school psychologist that other kids do not get, but she is in a regular classroom.

Please share your experiences...things your parents did that helped/hurt when they told you. Things you wish they would or wouldn't have done. Things that would have made it better...really, I want to learn everything you can teach me about being a kid and finding out you have autism.

I knew about my dx when I got it at age 7. There's nothing you can do to help make it easier. She should know as soon as possible. Make sure she gets ahead in math at a young age. She will need it. I wish I had otherwise I wouldn't have crashed and burned by HS algebra and became unable to progress in school.

Can't find it in the teens section. But I agree that you should tell her as soon as possible. You can't even know for sure how she'll react because most people here are relieved to know that they think differently for a reason that has been proven and everything. The thing that might happen if you wait is she'll find out and then it might hurt because of the shock. Just don't make it sound like she's extremely different and abnormal because she will always be the same as she is now so there will be no change in her way of thinking exept the for fact that she'll know the reason.

I agree with the other replies to your issue, tell your daughter what her diagnosis is. The better she understands what it is and how it doesn't mean that she is different in a bad way but unique with unique ways her brain works the better. Also anything that she takes an interest in allow her to follow that interest for as long as it lasts, when she loses interest don't hold it against her, simply encurage her to explore her next interest. Do not however over fill her schedule with interests, one at a time is enough. If she asks to reexplore something that she has tried before, remind her that she has tried it before and she is free to try it again, but she needs to keep an open mind each time she tries something new or repeats an interest. Hope this helps. This is the exact opposite of what my parents did with me and I must say that I resent it on every front.

Is there any way you could home school her? For most of my childhood, I was home schooled, and it was one of the best things for me.

^ I need to read these things better.