Help and advise needed in West Sussex

This is a tricky one and I hope you get more responses than just my clumsy interpretations.

I can see obvious difficulties with the GP - GPs have strange ideas about autism though the situation is gradually improving - you might still get antiquated ideas about women "not getting" autism, or having got so far and having a child by a relationship implied that wouldn't have been possible with autism etc etc.

So you do need to arm yourself with facts and evidence.  But another issue I venture is being a young mother and having reared a child to age 3 is enough for depression. Does she still have the father supporting her? You don't say whether she is married, partnered or single.

There is a book "Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol - Drinking to Cope?" by Matthew Tinsley and Sarah Hendrickx (Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2008 ISBN 978 1 84310 609 8). This is still a controversial subject, and I'm not sure about the availability of this book. It doesn't seem to have caught on with the professionals.

It quotes Gilman Ostrander in "Alcoholism: The Facts" by Donald W Goodwin, 2000 edition - that alcoholism is a condition for individualists and loners, affects those who get a sense early in their lives that they are alone in the world, prevents them getting emotional release through others, leads to finding this through alcohol.

This notion seems to underpin the deductions in Tinsley & Hendrickx. Alcohol may be acting as a tranquillizer for people who find social groups uncomfortable - used to manage anxiety with social situations - drinking to feel more competent socially - then making a link with that difficulty in autism and aspergers as a "social anxiety disorder" - and several studies have indicated that those with social anxiety disorders have an above average chance of developing alcoholism. The thinking behind this book is weakly argued.

Also p92, around 66 percent of alcohol dependent adults entering treatment show evidence of anxiety and/or depression. Clearly not all these people have AS - but it adds weight to their argument! .... apparently.

The trouble is there isn't much data on this. And there's a lot of debate. But it is perceived that autism has a connection with alcoholism.

But you say you fear she is abusing alcohol - her justification for doing so might fit Tinsley & Hendrickx hypothesis - the trouble is convincing health professionals, who seem to be in denial that there is such a connection.

I think you need to do some more research on this, if you feel able to spend the time, and access what books are in the local library. You have to make your own judgement of poorly supported published arguments and what you perceive is happening to your daughter. That's tricky.

Has anyone else got any insight on this?

This is a tricky one and I hope you get more responses than just my clumsy interpretations.

I can see obvious difficulties with the GP - GPs have strange ideas about autism though the situation is gradually improving - you might still get antiquated ideas about women "not getting" autism, or having got so far and having a child by a relationship implied that wouldn't have been possible with autism etc etc.

So you do need to arm yourself with facts and evidence.  But another issue I venture is being a young mother and having reared a child to age 3 is enough for depression. Does she still have the father supporting her? You don't say whether she is married, partnered or single.

There is a book "Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol - Drinking to Cope?" by Matthew Tinsley and Sarah Hendrickx (Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2008 ISBN 978 1 84310 609 8). This is still a controversial subject, and I'm not sure about the availability of this book. It doesn't seem to have caught on with the professionals.

It quotes Gilman Ostrander in "Alcoholism: The Facts" by Donald W Goodwin, 2000 edition - that alcoholism is a condition for individualists and loners, affects those who get a sense early in their lives that they are alone in the world, prevents them getting emotional release through others, leads to finding this through alcohol.

This notion seems to underpin the deductions in Tinsley & Hendrickx. Alcohol may be acting as a tranquillizer for people who find social groups uncomfortable - used to manage anxiety with social situations - drinking to feel more competent socially - then making a link with that difficulty in autism and aspergers as a "social anxiety disorder" - and several studies have indicated that those with social anxiety disorders have an above average chance of developing alcoholism. The thinking behind this book is weakly argued.

Also p92, around 66 percent of alcohol dependent adults entering treatment show evidence of anxiety and/or depression. Clearly not all these people have AS - but it adds weight to their argument! .... apparently.

The trouble is there isn't much data on this. And there's a lot of debate. But it is perceived that autism has a connection with alcoholism.

But you say you fear she is abusing alcohol - her justification for doing so might fit Tinsley & Hendrickx hypothesis - the trouble is convincing health professionals, who seem to be in denial that there is such a connection.

I think you need to do some more research on this, if you feel able to spend the time, and access what books are in the local library. You have to make your own judgement of poorly supported published arguments and what you perceive is happening to your daughter. That's tricky.

Has anyone else got any insight on this?