Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi ,
This is my first post on the forum. I have a nine year old boy who has been diagnosed with ASD for about a year now. He is very good at masking all the things that upset him whilst at school in fact we met with the head today who said he is a model student. The problem is it’s so hard for him to hold it together all day that at home where he can “get away with it” his behaviour is awful. The school are helpful but I really think he needs a professional to talk to. He refuses to talk about his feelings with my wife and I. Anyone know of any good counsellors etc in the Exeter, Devon area.
Thanks
We experience the same thing with my son. I think it’ll probably always be that way to an extent but we’ve spent a lot of time working out his triggers or likely situations that overwhelm him and trying to manage the time around that. For example, he has more quiet downtime at home after school with less sensory stimulation (no iPads, nothing too loud, if the telly is on it’ll be calm programmes, we also stopped quizzing him about his day as found it was too much for him). Being tired is a massive problem for him - not helped by the fact he often can’t sleep due to anxiety - so we try to keep saturdays as a quiet day at home with few plans, just to let him have a proper rest at the end of the school week and recharge a bit.