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my child refuses to talk anymore

faerierealm

My 15 year old has suffered the bereavement of 2 very special people this year. She now has just suddenly stopped talking and I think it is all related. She can talk but just refuses to, she communicates at home and school by pen and paper and although the school is an independent school specialising in commnuication difficulties, they and I are at a loss as to what to do.

I realise she needs some form of counselling but my GP is totally clueless and its going to take forever to get help via them. I am not on an income where I can afford counselling so wondered if there was any service out there that caters to the needs of a child with ASD. So far my search on the internet has been unsuccessful.

Any advice would be appreciated, thankyou

  • Hiya,

    When I was about 15, my uncle died. It took a few days for the news to sink in and for two days I just felt numb, like thee was something heavy and cold sitting inside my chest. On the third day I burst into tears and was unable to go to school.

    I was so scared of saying anything, I didn't talk to my cousins (the ones who'd just lost their dad), or anyone on that side of the family, and I refused to talk to anyone for a few days, I think I made it a whole month by only speaking four short sentences before I started talking properly again. Most of my 'talking' was done with my friend on paper while she tried to offer reassurance.

    Honestly I don't know whats worse, the cold heavy feeling in your chest or being numb. It was like I was aware of everything around me but it never quite reached me, like I was detatched from the world.

    Its hard, to grieve. I can see other people in mourning but it didn't make sense. On a daily basis I was always afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing and when you lose someone suddenly that fear increases. You don't know what to say because you also know nothing will make it better or make the feeling go away.

    It took about a month of sitting down and hugging my mum every night and writing to my friend explaining what was going on in my head to finally accept that there wasn't anything I could do to fix it, only to try and carry on while remembering the person. The pain is still there, I realise now that it'll never fully go away. But I try hard to remember all the good times, when we used to 'race' down the road pushing my uncle along in his wheelchair while he encouraged us to go faster, or before he got sick when he used to pick us up and spin us around.

    I hope you have luck finding help for your daughter, and I just want her to know shes not alone. What shes doing isn't wrong, but that there may be better ways of dealing with all the emotions she may be feeling. And most importantly, just be there for her.

    I wish you the best of luck,

    Katie.

  • Hi

    You are obviously experiencing a very difficult time at the moment.  I have posted a link to the NAS helpline who might be able to help you.  

    http://www.autism.org.uk/our-services/advice-and-information-services/autism-helpline/how-we-can-help.aspx

    Please let us know how you get on.

     

    All the best ColinCat