NEED TO KNOW
Emily Loftiss kept her son Dalton’s autism diagnosis private for nearly three years after his diagnosis at age 2
She shared the diagnosis in 2024, citing the challenges of hiding it and setting boundaries to protect her family
Loftiss expressed concerns about unsolicited advice from followers and the emotional toll of navigating social media
Emily Loftiss is sharing why she decided to keep her son’s autism diagnosis private after he was first diagnosed almost three years ago.
During an appearance on a Wednesday, June 24 episode of the LadyGang podcast, the Atlanta-based stylist, 45, explained that her 6-year-old son Dalton was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 2 years old on Cinco de Mayo in 2022.
“I was like, ‘Well, we’re going to go and do our diagnosis and then we’re going to get margs and cheese dip.’ I planned that on purpose,” said Loftiss. “I did not share [the diagnosis] until 2 years ago. In August, it will be 2 years.”
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“Honestly, it was getting too hard to hide. He was about to wear our leg braces…because he’s a toe walker,” she continued. “People on Instagram would be like, ‘Oh my god, he’s a dancer like you.’ I’m like, ‘Mhm.'”
She said that as her son got older, more people would message her and ask her if she could share clips of her son speaking.
“He’s getting older, people are messaging me being like, ‘I want to hear his voice,’ ” recalled Loftiss. “Which is like, ‘Who texts the mother, ‘I want to hear your child talk?’ It’s like, also, ding, ding, ding, ding. Maybe we’re doing this for a reason.”
“You don’t have to know everything,” she continued. “So it was just kind of getting hard to, quote unquote, hide.”
The influencer said her husband, Jay, was “really adamant” about sharing the diagnosis with her followers, but the proud mom wasn’t sure.
“I knew when the doors were open… you can never close them,” said Loftiss. “I’ve had a really wild past. My dad took his own life when I was 14, I had terrible infertility issues, I had Bell’s palsy, now everything with autism.”
She went on to say that one of the main reasons she didn’t want to share Dalton’s diagnosis was that she’d get unsolicited advice from her followers.
“Your brain is just on overload all the time, of like, ‘What about this, what about this?’ Like when he’s 18, other people are thinking about college funds. We’re thinking about, ‘Is he gonna live with us?’ ” said Loftiss. “‘Is he gonna live in a tiny house? Is he gonna live downstairs? Are we gonna be able to have a job or drive? Are we gonna be speaking?'”
“So then to have anyone on social media want to be like, ‘Did he try putting silver on his heels?’ I’m like, I don’t have the capacity for that,” she added. “I just knew that when the can of worms was open, it was gonna be open.”
In August 2024, Loftiss shared with her followers that her son Dalton was diagnosed with autism. “After much prayer and deliberation, we are sharing that our precious son Dalton is autistic,” she wrote in part in her caption at the time. “He’s 4½ and non-speaking (he verbalizes but has speech apraxia and working VERY hard to find his sweet voice).”
“It’s been hard trying to navigate the tricky world of social media and protecting our son, and I finally feel like it is time to share what a gift Dalton is to our family and the world,” she went on. “Disclaimer, I’m putting strong boundaries to protect my peace and my family. If you have to think twice about sending a message regarding treatment or whatnot, please think again.”
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