Labels are convenient. They describe things and help them fit neatly into a descriptive box. But there can be a few problems with Labels and Special Needs Kids. Our kids often don’t fit neatly into that descriptive box. Even if you find a good descriptive box, there is a lot of prejudice and misconceptions about those boxes.
A lot of parents worry about getting their child diagnosed as they are worried about the “Label”. They are afraid that it will mean that their child will be labeled and treated differently, or that because of the label they will never be allowed to be everything they are capable of being.
I once had a little boy in my class at church and there was clearly something different about this child. The parents had had him evaluated but refused to share with anyone what his diagnosis was. This was a problem. If we knew what was wrong we could have been much better equipped to help this little boy. But instead we could only guess and our guessing frequently didn’t yield success.
Whenever I find a parent asking, “Should I get my child tested? Should I share the results?” My answer is almost always a resounding YES!
A diagnosis gives you information. Your child may need treatment to reach their best potential. A diagnosis will help give you access to the needed treatments or a different kind of help. Without the diagnosis getting the treatments or needed help can be much more difficult.
My daughter, R, has a diagnosis of Dyslexia. Without having a diagnosis, understanding how to help her learn to read would have been much more difficult. It didn’t just affect her reading either because the first couple years the school relied heavily on word problems to teach math. My daughter was convinced she wasn’t any good at math when the exact opposite is true. 
Because I knew that there was an actual difference in the way her brain processes reading words, I could have more patience with her struggles. I also knew I needed to learn how to advocate for her in school so that she can reach her potential and so that the teachers could understand how to better teach her. I want my daughter to reach the great heights she is capable of. I just needed figure out why things were so hard for her, to help her do that. Getting the diagnosis helped me do that. Does she have a “Label”? Perhaps, but she isn’t the “Label”.
