Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
I'm new to the site but in need of some advice. My beautiful daughter started College last year after a very difficult time at secondary school. I thought things would finally look a little better for her but unfortunately things got worse.
My daughter has a diagnosis of ASD and very bad Anxiety which we didn't get until year 10. The build up of constant panic attacks and not being able to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time or not at all, awake for days or going the other way sleeping for days, she would also go none verbal which made things very difficult as I didn't know what the problem was or how to help. College did try to help but she just found the whole experience so traumatic that she had to take a medical absence. I'm not sure she is going to be able to return come September as this was the plan.
I don't know what to do! I'm not sure if she could even do an apprenticeship. I am not sure what we do from here, she has weekly psychology sessions which had to be put on hold due covid. They also agree that college might not be the best choice.
What happens now? If we don't do college or some form of work? I know that young adults are supposed to be in some for of education until 18 but that clearly isn't right for her.
We would be grateful for some advice if anyone has any.
Many thanks
Jo
Hi Jo,
I totally understand the overwhelming social and emotional challenges of university and all the anxiety-inducing obstacles that your daughter might encounter daily.
Does she enjoy the academic side of uni? I went to university when I was 19 to do art and loved the subject but I found the 'constantly being around other people' quite hard, especially when uni is associated with social gatherings a lot! I never really joined in with those, just picked a small group of people that I was comfortable with and we did our own thing. I also went on to do a full degree in natural science with The Open University (online). It was fantastic. I can't praise it more. I could study around my part time job (as my modules were part time) and it was a great balance. I didn't have to meet up with anyone, it was all done online, all the tutorials were live online and you could type to people (you don't have to speak) which was great. It gave me confidence in my ability without all the anxiety of social awkwardness. Would that be something she would be interested in? Computers and technology in general are a great way to reduce anxiety for people with autism as it's predictable. Often there is clearly defined tasks to complete that human communication doesn't always have. It also reduces un-necessary stimuli, like sensory, such as bright lights and lots of noise. It basically reduces the social demands on us.
Hope you find this useful