Published on 12, July, 2020
Our 16 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with ASD. She is high functioning, quiet, compliant and academic.
How do we parent her with choosing to opt out of things. Today it's a revision session at school, in the holidays where her friends won't be there. School has been a real trigger for her. She goes everyday but her anxiety increases with school. Should we have stayed firm or offered ways to help ie drive her there etc? In a neurotypical world a teen would also not want to go but we'd make them. Often the thought is worse than the reality.
I've said she doesn't have to go. My husband thinks she is opting out of too much. She will revise at home and hand her phone over during that time.
When do you say yes and when do you say no?
I was exactly like this in school. I hated going. I found that if I was left to my own vices, and given the chance to make my own decisions academically, I would do so much better. My mum never forced me to go, and I ended up doing well in my exams. I think we have our own way of getting through life, and getting through school. If she wants to do well, she will! :)