Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter is 18. She has been suffering with anorexia and body dysmorphia since she was 13. Academically she is exceptionally able but has always struggled socially. She has only recently, in the last year, had the Asperger's diagnosis. She is devastated about and cannot accept it. Her meltdowns have increased and her eating has severely deteriorated. She is refusing to receive any support. Is anybody else experiencing a similar situation?
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I have two autistic daughters. One has an eating disorder, although both accepted their diagnosis.
I think what would help is a peer contact. some support group of other autistic girls. Does she have an EHCP?
I have learnt over the past few years about comfort foods. I’ve suffered from dieting conditions where some foods make me feel it just by the smell. I found that some foods become comfort foods. From Frosties in the morning (my Nan used to give me them as a child) Shepard’s pie, fried breakfasts especially sausages, biscuits seem to be popular amongst other autistic people including me, apples are great as well. Everyone is different and they won’t know that it’s their comfort food but when dealing with stress or long periods without eating I found these work to best to pull me out and get me on top of it.
In regards to rejecting the diagnosis, I have no idea. I welcomed it with open arms. Having Aspergers not only solved the difficulties I had at a younger age but it’s almost a super power. I look for the positive features I have and work to improve them. Be careful that your daughter doesn’t slip into alcohol or substance addiction, that is unfortunately a path some go down to make themselves feel more normal. I’m not going to say that cbd is bad though. It helped me control my thoughts when they went wild a few years ago. My also on mertazipine to help with anxiety and sleep patterns I’m allowed diazepam whenever i need them to help with panic attacks. All this I got from talking to my doctor and the local mental health teams. Remember it’s not a disability it’s a different ability.
Hi, I’m a 25yr old male who was diagnosed at the age of 16. I can relate to your daughters devastation on being diagnosed. I struggled to accept it for years and never wanted to talk about it and every time my parents talked about getting help I would have countless meltdowns.
The good news is I did accept! I started reading up about Asperger’s and it explained so much about myself and some of the issues I had as a teenager, it all started to make sense. I think the key to accepting it is to learn and try to understand as much as you can about it. It’s also important to initially focus on some of the positives. In my case I saw positives in having obsessive interests I was passionate about. I saw being ‘black and white’ as a positive as it shows me to look at things in a very logical way.
Now at 25 Im proud to be Asperger’s. People actually like me for having some of the aspie traits, like being honest and straight with people. Being Asperger’s is a huge part of who I am and although it comes with a lot of struggles I wouldn’t change it.
Ive always struggled socially meeting people and still do but I do have friends and a successful social life.
I’m very sorry about your daughters current struggles, but I hope reading this gives you hope and positivity that things will get better :)