Well, the CPN and woman from the autism team came in the front door and our son escaped out the back! He had initially agreed to the assessment but, he says, only because he felt that the psychiatrist was too insistant and he felt coerced. And now he's saying he doesn't want it, he won't see them and it's his decision. The trouble is, we have to live with the consequences of his decision too. He's mucky, withdrawn and spends all day in ritualistic behaviours to avoid "negative energy" or else on his computer. He also quite frequently blanks us and rarely goes out. No friends and no contacts over the phone or internet either. There's a real atmosphere in our home and, even if he insists that what he's doing is more likely to make him happy, I think he is making himself, and the rest of us, very miserable indeed.
Of course, we are running into issues around mental capacity here. The psychiatrist insists that he has capacity and we, of course, would always want to promote autonomy and independence where possible. But to us it seems that he is in the grip of delusional beliefs and that, without the effects of possible autism plus associated mental illness through years of non recognition of this, he certainly wouldn't be choosing to spend his life like this! What on earth can we do? He seems to be using his capacity to ruin his life and ours too!
