Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter (15 years old) has recently been diagnosed with Aspergers. I have been directed to this website as a source of information and I would really appreciate any advice anyone could offer. My child is also self-harming, has an eating disorder and rarely sleeps at night. She has been bullied at school and is now a loner who obsesses over her studies and has quite spectacular meltdowns at home. We are attending sessions at CAMHS for the eating disorder. The school is aware of this and also know that my daughter is not eating or drinking for the entire school day (in the year of GCSEs) but I feel I am up against a wall of silence. There are no responses to my emails or telephone calls following the diagnosis. Eventually the CAMHS counsellor called and was assured the school would do whatever it could to protect my child - but nothing is being done apart from my child then being taken out of a lesson and asked if everything was okay. What should I do?
Hi there, I have Aspergers myself and I've been sure for a few years that my eldest daughter (now 21) also has Aspergers, she also has history of eating disorder, it's at a manageable level now but I do remember well how traumatic I found it a few years ago when it was at it's worst. There is something about having watched my child trying to starve herself to death that has left a scar that will never completely heal, even now I'm hyper vigilant if I think she's not eating enough or is exercising too much. So I can completely empathise with how anxiety provoking this must be for you. It's really good that she's seeing CAMHS for the eating disorder, do you feel that is helping? As for the school, I think someone else has given some good advice as to how to get help for her in school, the fact that she's formally diagnosed with Aspergers should go in your favour in terms of getting her support at school but I guess as with everything there's a process to go through to get that support. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Hi Kitsun, thanks so much for your post. I'm sorry to hear about what you have been through with your daughter. I find it hard not to get upset when I find evidence that my daughter has been through the bin or munching handfuls of cereal when she is on her own. There was a slight increase in her weight when she was weighed at CAMHS this week and she wasn't happy with this, so since then she has eaten next to nothing. The CAMHS counsellor is being very supportive - just I still find it difficult sometimes to cope with on a day to day level. I wish you and your daughter the best of luck