urgent help sort..child in crisis

I've pushed my solo thread on advocacy back to the top of "Living with Autism" as it explains the problem with advocacy services. I'm still pursuing enquiries to such services to no avail.

I wish NAS would take this seriously. Its no good doing a survey and not acting on the shortfall. Many people on this site could benefit from advocacy services.

It might also be useful if you can give more information on here, as some parents may be able to help if they recognise similar circumstances.

Has she any learning disability, speech difficulties or other impediments to explaining her own needs?

Has she any associated mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder?

As Recombinantsocks asked, is the unit she is in specialising in autism, has staff qualified in autism support, or is it just a general facility where she has been put with a variety of other disabled? It sounds like the unit she is in has no training in autism care and support.

If someone on the autistic spectrum gets stressed, and particularly where there are meltdowns or aggression, it is usually better to provide a quiet room where they can calm down. Manhandling someone, especially mobbing her (three or four staff crowded round her), cuffing her or using other restraints is hardly likely to improve the situation. It does sound like the unit staff aren't trained to work with people with autism.

Does she have sensitivities to noise, complex visual stimuli, touch or smell? Could it be that they are placing her in situations which exacerbate her sensitivities.

There may be a lot of bullying going on, either other residents or staff. This may be producing escalating anxiety.

Hence my reason for recommending informed advocacy. If the staff in the unit don't know enough about autism care you cannot realistically find any sensible solution.

Legally they took her on, knowing her autism and other status. If they now feel they cannot cope, that is to some extent their responsibility. They cannot just start preventing her continued support. I suspect there is some legally testable misconduct.

Most local authority areas have an advocacy group targeted at learning disability or mental health, but not all are genned up on autism. Also some are for adults, some for children.

Some are labelled Citizen Advocacy Schemes. Some come under IMHA - Independent Mental Health Advocacy. If you search the internet locally for such services you should hopefully find one. Even if it is not the right one initially, they may be able to redirect you.

Secondly is there a parents group in your area? - independent or NAS. They can often provide advice. Some of these and other services can be found via the search funtion with the red and pink map of the UK on the Home and Community pages of the NAS website. Even if you search Lands End or John o'Groats they always seem to come up with London services first, but scroll down and you should get a relevant contact.

In situations like this you need the right people with autism knowledge fighting your corner.

Does the school specialise in autistic children? It sounds as though CAMHS and the school have failed to work out what makes her tick. Are CAMHS very sympathetic but not actually very good at turning round difficult cases?

Have you asked her why she hates it so much?

If she is treated like an animal then she will behave like one - but which came first? Either way (I'm not sure whether it matters now) you somehow have to break the cycle of control and punishment and people have to treat her differently.

Perhaps you can get a second opinion from another autism specialist (someone who hasn't been involved so far) who will listen to her with a fresh pair of ears and eys and perhaps make a new start?