Autistic teenager struggling at school, refusing help

My son is at a mainstream high school, where he has been doing reasonably well, but he is under extra stress this year because he's doing GCSE's. He has told me about being mocked in class by some other students, sadly this isn't a new thing but he was coping with it. Now he is increasingly angry at them and school in general, and absolutely hates it. The school does have people who could help, but he refuses to talk to them, and doesn't want me to talk to them either. The techniques he had for displacing anger don't seem to be working well any more, and he has frequent rages at home. I'm trying to help, but I never really worked out how to deal with bullies myself, and I'm at a loss. Should I go behind his back and against his wishes and approach the school myself? Could it just be a passing phase brought on by exam pressure? (Even if it is, I don't want to just ignore it.) It isn't helping that I'm struggling with depression, and I'm sometimes having difficulty getting through the day myself. Any advice would be welcomed. Thank you.

Parents
  • Hi ,

    I am really sorry to hear about some of the difficulties your son is going going through and how it is affecting you.

    You may like to contact our Autism Helpline team who can provide you with information and advice . You can contact the team via telephone on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm). Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor. Alternatively, should you prefer to send a message, you can do so via their webform:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main/questions.aspx

    It may be useful to also contact our Parent to Parent service who offers emotional support to parents and carers of children or adults with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained parent volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism . 

    You contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Alternatively you can use contact the team via web form: https://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/parent-to-parent/enquiry.aspx

    Also, If you would like some confidential advice and support, you may like to call the Bullying UK helpline on 0808 800 2222 or by visiting their website: http://bit.ly/IQ47dS

    I hope this helps,

    ChloeMod:)

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