Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there, I'm new to this forum and my counsellor advised me about this webpage. I'm a single mother to two children, my son Luke is 9 and undergoing diagnosis of ASD following 8 school exclusions and is now regularly seeing specialist for his pending diagnosis. I have known since he was a baby that he was different however it has taken this long for professionals to listen, I work full time as a health visitor however I am currently on the sick whilst assessments are ongoing as I could not do my job. I am hoping for some support from other parents as I have become very depressed and anxious about this situation and am trying to reach out to others that feel the same. I am currently on medication and started counselling which is going well but I want to cry all of the time and have minimal energy when it comes to the kids and day to day things. Has anyone else felt this way and is there an end to feeling this way, I know it's impacting on my kids but don't know how to feel better. Please help, any advice is welcomed xx
Hi Donna3012,
Welcome to the community. I thought I'd list a few links below which you may find useful:
The first provides some general information about autism: http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/what-is-autism.aspx.
Next, this link provides some information on getting a diagnosis: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx.
The main things parents should be expecting and asking for during assessment are those outlined in the National Autism Plan for Children. You can look at the NAPC using a link at the bottom of the following page:National Autism Plan for Children (2003): executive summary, full report, details of speakers, appendices. http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx.
You may also want to look at our section that provides advice for parents, relatives and carers of people with autismhttp://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/parents-relatives-and-carers.aspx.
Additionally, if you wish to find support in your local area it may be worth searching on the Autism Services Directory for support groups near to you: http://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx.
Finally, if you'd like to speak to someone on a one-to-one basis, it may be worth ringing the Autism Helpline. You can call them on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm), although please note that the Helpline is experiencing increasingly high demand, and you may not reach them straight away.
Please see the following link for further information:
http://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main.aspx
Best wishes,
Nellie-Mod
Hi Nellie, thanks for the links I will definitely have a look at these to gather information.