I don’t know how to cope with my 12yr old

I feel like i am sinking and I have no idea how to cope. My son is 12 years old and has ASD. I also have a 9 year old son. I am a single mother. 

I have no patience, ever, so find my son hard to handle. Tonight we had dinner at my mums and I ended up leaving with my youngest (my eldest stays at my mums Tuesday to Friday) after my son went off on one. I couldn’t cope and stormed out. 

I need help on how to cope but i have no idea where to go for advice. 

  • Hi NAS14805,

    I'm sorry to hear you've been having a difficult time. If you need advice or support please consider calling the NAS helpline on 0808 800 4104 (10am-4pm Mon-Thurs, 9am-3pm Fri) where you can speak to someone directly. Alternatively you could look in our Autism Services Directory - http://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx - to see what resources are available in your area - this includes things like counselling services and support groups for parents which may be able to help you.

    Hope this is of some use,

    Ross - mod

  • so sorry you are feeling like this. i can completely understand your situation.  i have a 15yr old with an asd and 8 yr old twins with ADHD and I too am a single mum.  for a long time I felt like I was sinking every day.  i had no idea how to handle normal everyday situations at all.  i ended up on anti-depressants and the support I was getting was non existant.  i finally realised that only I could help me deal with my kids and basically did a lot of online reading about asd and adhd.  this website is a great resource for information.   my son had specific things that would set him off (he still does) .  I have learned to let a lot of their behaviours slide and pick my battles carefully...if only for my own sanity.  What exactly happened before your son lost control?