Hello

Hello,

I have just joined and thought I would introduce myself. My 15 year old has recently been diagnosed with ASD so we are early on this journey. They also identify as non binary. 

Their mental health has been pretty bad since starting secondary school. Before that although looking back there were probably signs of them having ASD, they were happy and well functioning. I guess due to the structure of primary school. Since starting secondary they have really struggled with the organisation aspect of different subjects, different teachers, different classrooms. This has lead to them withdrawing more and more from both academics and social life. Whereas previously they could enjoy days out and meals out, now everything is too over whelming for them. Going for a meal is a big no (they have very restricted diet and do not like to eat anything they haven’t seen being cooked). We are now in the summer holidays and they don’t want to leave the house all summer or have friends round. They will be heading into Year 11 and GCSE’s next year and I don’t know how they will be able to manage the stress of this. Due to the recent diagnosis I am hoping this will also lead to more help from school. On the positive side though they are extremely creative, they love writing. They also love our 3 cats and would quite happily live in a world of cats rather than other people. 

Anyway that is the start or our story and why I have joined. Looking forward to meeting others