Newbie just want to say hello

Hi I'm a single mum to a 16 year old boy recently diagnosed with AS. I'm struggling at the moment as the mental health service said they would be involved re his anxiety but when they found out he isn't in education right now (due to his anxiety he had to withdraw from college), they have signposted him to a local counselling service. This is regardless of the fact that he doesn't leave the house to get to such a service and that he has no concept of talking to anyone about his feelings let alone a complete stranger.

The local centre for AS where he was diagnosed is due to arrange for their child psychologist to get involved but I have made numerous calls to chase this and nothing yet. In the meantime he is gaming all night and sleeping all day. I did manage to get his sleep pattern round to a normal pattern a few months ago however recently this has slipped back as I am doing a nursing degree and this involves night shifts when I cannot supervise his sleep so we are back in the situation where he is going to bed when i get in from work. This of course means he is only eating one meal a day.

I spoke to him at 2am when I tried to get him to go to bed and he just said that he would rather be happy and unhealthy than healthy and unhappy......It's so draining seeing him possibly heading for physical ill health.

Parents
  • Hi ,

    I'm sorry to hear about the situation that you and your son are currently going through.

    If you would like to speak to someone about your concerns, it may be worth getting in contact with our Autism Helpline team. You can contact the team via telephone on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm). Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor. Alternatively, should you prefer to send a message, you can do so via their webform:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main/questions.aspx

    You may also like to contact our Parent to Parent service, which offers emotional support to parents and carers of children or adults with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained parent volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism .

    You can contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Alternatively you can contact the team via web form: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/community/family-support/parent-to-parent/enquiry.aspx

    Best wishes,

    Nellie-Mod

Reply
  • Hi ,

    I'm sorry to hear about the situation that you and your son are currently going through.

    If you would like to speak to someone about your concerns, it may be worth getting in contact with our Autism Helpline team. You can contact the team via telephone on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm). Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor. Alternatively, should you prefer to send a message, you can do so via their webform:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main/questions.aspx

    You may also like to contact our Parent to Parent service, which offers emotional support to parents and carers of children or adults with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained parent volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism .

    You can contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Alternatively you can contact the team via web form: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/community/family-support/parent-to-parent/enquiry.aspx

    Best wishes,

    Nellie-Mod

Children
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