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10 year old girl - sudden potential ASD diagnosis - please anyone similar

GillsD

Good morning

After a few months of high anxiety with our 10 year old girl - seemingly out of the blue - we have now been told she may have ASD. From nothing to a situation which has spiralled every day to the point that she didn't attend school for the last month, to problems sleeping, major meltdowns (one which ended up in A and E, bad idea on reflection but we were frightened!)...........how has this been masked for so long? We are in a terrible state as a family, walking on eggshells, life being put on hold as our daughter won't do a lot of things, a 7 year old boy who is petrified and despite CAMHS being involved have now been told everything will take months.............

  • I am so sorry to hear your story of your son. It sounds like you have had a very traumatic and isolating time as a family. We have good days and bad days and it is all a bit of a rollercoaster. Since I posted this, I have now called our regional CAMHS where our daughter has been referred to - they have taken all into account and have agreed to see our daughter next week for therapy. The therapist I spoke to things it is unlikely that it's ASD and more likely to be anxiety - generalised and anticipatory anxiety although there are seperation issues as well. Things have spiralled quickly so they believe time is critical and also believe that they need to intervene now and it may only be a short term intervention. she has settled better the last 2 nights in her room and not elsewhere as we were resorting to as she seemed agitated. Massage the last 2 nights has helped. Let's hope we can find a way of helping her manage this as soon as we can. Thank you xx

  • Thank you. Was very out of the blue. First issue was in May when she complained of being sick while on a family trip away to a theme park. Looking back she was clearly anxious. Then when she was due to return to school after the holiday she complained again of feeling sick. She then for 3 weeks increased the resistance to going to school - had been forced to go in many times, teachers getting into cars with her and trying a number of different approaches but it kept escalating until we had to stop forcing her to go in and consider a different strategy. Since then she has also avoided other activities - brownies, dancing, shopping trips - she was a very active child before all this - dance shows, school choir etc, bright, conscientious, polite, no behaviour issues...   Gradually she then started to have meltdowns both tantrum style and panic attack like - lasting a few hours. They have increased and she is having terrible trouble settling at night. Have tried massage lavender baths mindfulness but still huge problems - gets extremely agitated in her room with her clothes starts scratching - so we have tried removing her from her room letting her relax but it can be midnight most nights before she is asleep. We also have a 7 year old who is very scared at times by his sister's behaviour. My husband and I are exhausted and feel so helpless. CAMHS have referred her for an asd assessment and therapy but both have long waiting lists. We are meeting with a local autistic organisation next week which is good.....but meanwhile our family is at crisis point ......

  • Hi, welcome.  Give us some more details about your daughter if you don't mind? Autism can be harder to diagnose in girls. So your present situation is that they suspect autism but you'll be on a waiting list because of government cuts.  It is worth considering learning all you can as a family about autism, despite not having a diagnosis if you think it will help your daughter and you all as a family.  Check out the home page and the posts.  There's tons of relevant info which you can access.  Ask anything you want whenever you want.  We do understand.  If you do take up my suggestion can I suggest that you don't try to learn too much at once or you'll be overwhelmed?  Bite sized chunks of info is best.