Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello! I’m really looking for some guidance and wisdom. My son is 14 and is in the process of being assessed for ASD. He has always struggled socially and has become almost completely introverted over lockdown- he wears his headphones constantly (which I know every teenager does!) and only feels safe talking with people online and interactions with family have become tense. I’m nervous for him about the return to school- any advice on how to increase his self esteem so he’s not so flat to face school? And also, how much privacy should be expect when it comes to his online activity? He has got very upset when I asked to know his Twitter password as he said it’s the one thing that got him through lockdown and away from ‘here’ (his home). He has also had online bullying from people he did and didn’t know online.
I’m feeling massively out of control and hope someone can help. Huge thanks in advance for any messages.:)
Hi, I was wondering if you may have had your son's hearing assessed at all? I was diagnosed with autism at 30 (I'm 32 now) and tried using headphones and earplugs, which helped immensely. Over the last several years, I became aware that I have something affecting my hearing which means that speech is difficult to follow, though because the ears themselves are ok, normal tone tests don't show an issue. Over the last few months I've been looking into hearing technology and tried out a pair of earbuds from Nuheara which have speech in noise control, and can dim background sound while enhancing speech. When I tried them, I could instantly take part in conversation more easily due to the sound filtering. The website has a section on ASD here, and some hearing aids are starting to use the technology though it's quite new, I think.
Hi Rach, Thanks so much for taking the time to reply! No we haven’t had his hearing tested although he does get blocked ears quite a lot. It’s definitely worth a look- the headphones you’re talking about sound amazing!
I think I’m just worried about how his introversion is developing in general since puberty began. It’s a mixture of teenage hormones and his probable ASD, but he is excluding himself from our family life and then feeling depressed and I’m struggling to reach him. I want him to find somewhere safe but it’s hard when that somewhere is online and somewhere I’m not allowed to access.
Thanks so much again :)