Severe anxiety

Hello NAS77228,

I'm sorry to hear that you have been having a tough time with your son's anxiety. You may like to have a look at our information on anxiety, which will give you an overview and some advice:

 https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/anxiety

You may also like to have a look at the following page, which contains a lot of helpful information about education for a child with an autism: 

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/education 

This includes information regarding getting extra support for your child in their education setting. 

I hope this helps,

ChloeMod

Noise cancelling headphones in class might help him with the sound issues, if he can bear to wear them. It'd be a case of arranging that with the school and his teachers. Might also be a good idea to see if you can talk to his school and arrange for him to stay in a quiet classroom during breaks, and when it comes to secondary school, ask if he can leave class early by a few minutes, so he can avoid busy hallways. Those things would have helped me immensely, I feel. No guarantees that the school will comply, that's the biggest issue.

The other potential alternative is hiring a private tutor, or homeschooling him yourself. School education is compulsory, but going to a physical school to have that education is not. Might also be worth researching online secondary schools too.

Hi, yes, had a look there. Thanks

Hmmm, very difficult.  If you haven't yet done so it might be worth going through this section of the NAS website?  

www.autism.org.uk/.../family-support