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Newly diagnosed daughter

NAS78204

Hi, after years of our 16yr old daughter having panic attacks and sensitivity to certain noises, we finally found out last week she is autistic. While we are relieved to get the diagnosis and finally in her words “everyone can now understand why I am like I am”- what do we do now? what help is there?  Any support groups would be great. ThanksBlush 

  • Something no one else mentioned but is really important to both my brother and I. Be VERY clear about time and expectations. Anytime you ask her to do something, be clear about the order in which you want her to do it if it is many things and give her a timeline in which she should get it done. I would get really overwhelmed when my mom told me to brush my hair, my teeth, make my bed and take my dirty clothes to the hamper. I didn't know how fast I needed to do it or in which order. The other thing is to have a schedule. This is so important that even if the professionals say it, I should reiterate. Have a schedule.

    If you are going out for dinner, say, "Hey, name, we are going out for dinner at 8pm; it is currently 7pm. Finish what you are doing and then get dressed. After that brush your teeth. If you are done, don't start anything you can't finish before 8pm so you don't get interrupted, ok?"

    If you need help with something, show her how to do it and ask her to do that, preferably within her scheduled time to help around the house. I can't learn as I go. It doesn't work for me and I get extremely flustered. If I am shown or research how to do it step by step, I can get it right the first time around.

    My psychiatrist had the following situation with one of his patients, he wouldn't let his parents change out the bedsheets. To solve it, they incorporated changing bedsheets into his routine, having him help change it. This way, he doesn't get home and have a different bedsheet all of a sudden. Now, even if your child is not as compromised as the kid in the example, this is an example of how to deal with eventual problems surrounding this type [links removed by mod] of thing.

  • There's very limited help and support services for adults, I find it good joining online autism communities like this to ask autistic people who experience autism what people can do to solve issues.

    Learn about Autism and how your daughter is affected as everyone on the autism spectrum are affected with variation. Join autism communities and ask any questions, then autistic adults will answer questions and share how they live and cope with the challenging traits like anxiety and sensory issues.

    This charity, The National Autistic Society's website contains information about all the things that characterizes autism and some ways to cope.

    I hope that's helped.