Meltdown galore and she's not calming down

UPDATE: She is doing really well overall now, enjoying this lovely weather and wants to overcome some of her sensory challenges. 

Unfortunately the recent meltdown, the one I described, she has injured herself. She doesn't usually complain of pain at home so I was worried and took her to hospital a couple of days ago and she is now in a wrist support and sling due to injuring her muscle, which we are sure was from her meltdown. 

We don't have meltdowns frequently now but when they do happen they are bigger than usual. She won't let anyone help during these times and staff struggle to handle them because she just throws herself about and punched the seat which has caused this injury. They try not to hold her because it makes the situation worse. I don't know what to do anymore, she just injures herself during this tricky times. She even knocked herself out when headbanging once, it's scary. 

It could also be this. She is extremely anxious about leaving school, she has 1 year left so she can slowly transition out of school. I know that she feels she won't have as much support when she leaves school and that no one will understand her, I've reassured her that her family will support her every step of the way. 

I also heard that she was extremely huggy during the incident and was lying on staffs lap, holding their hands, and one point, sat on one staffs lap which she has never done in her life. 

I think reality is starting to hit her now. She will learn to drive in July. There's a lot of change starting soon and I don't think she wants to leave school behind. 

depends whats going through her head.

could the hugs mean she is thinking she has to leave you or something and will miss you?

the gcses signify end of school and going into adult life, perhaps she is thinking on that and thinking on losing her childhood and being alone and losing her parents?

could be anything, but analysis of a hug when there is never hugs to me signifies not wanting to lose the one they are hugging perhaps.

Could possibly be that. It was so hard watching her struggle yesterday. She doesn't like touch unless it's on her terms so I didn't intervene. She was punching her head at 5am this morning and then last night so forgot how to breathe a lot. She stopped breathing for around over a minute which is so scary to watch. Staff definitely helped so much yesterday and dealt with it incredibly, perfectly in fact. She is all achy today and is still exhausted and recovering but she's got good staff today so hopefully she will talk to them about it, get it off her chest.

I could be that the meltdown is due to having to stay in the room after she finished the exam, she might have had it in her thoughts that after the exam she could leave. 

When I did my exams I could leave, anyone could , we were all in the hall together though, and it was a bit disturbing when people left and we were still writing.

I understand that she was in a quiet room on her own. 

Perhaps next year they could arrange with her and practice doing a mock exam in that room, or maybe arrange for when the exam is finished for her to be able to do something like draw on paper and pass the time. Me personally when i have that extra time in an exam I tend to re-read everything and look over my answers again and again. 

so there might be ways to do a drill so she gets used to it. 

In saying that you have supported her well and it is good that she will look forward to school tomorrow.

that is a good sign that she does want to go to school tomorrow. 

She has did amazing today in that she went into the exam. 

You have did a lot to support her. 

I hope she feels better tomorrow. 

What an achievement fir her to get through this and credit to you and her supporters as well. Quiet time alone in her own space and in her control is obviously the best way to recover. You are a brilliant parent with a brilliant daughter.

All her exams are finished now. She said they were alright and good but she had to wait until time was up to leave. She did have a teacher with her and her own room so she had support. She did start getting bored due to having to wait 40 minutes until the exam was over but they said she could leave early but by that time it was too late, she was already dysregulated and shutting down. 

On the way back home, it's a 50 minute journey but it took them over 2 and a half hours to get her home because they had to pull over on the motorway because she had shutdown which then leads to a meltdown majority of the time. She then was hurting herself and got really got so they had to get support out to help. 

She is now semi regulated but has a headache and feels sick and hot due to the stress and the meltdown and is absolutely exhausted. They said in the car she couldn't even hold her own body weight and couldn't stay sat up, hence lying down in the car. She still wants to go to school tomorrow which is a good sign. 

So sorry to hear  that,  having the space to watch TV and coming down to hug you for comfort, shows that she knows that you are a caring parent and there for her

Just keep an eye on her, she is going into a shut down and sounds like speaking too much would just exhaust her. 

just be there for her till she has calmed down. but keep a gentle eye on her to make sure she is okay in her room and tell her that she is welcome to come and sit with you when she wants and that you love her. 

Hope she feels better soon. 

Is there a way that exam days can be better? such as before hand do something she likes? or afterwards take time walking instead of jumping into the car straight away?  Sometimes a gentle walk after an exam is calming for some.

for me my happy place when out is going to a quiet cafe, but this might not be the case for her. It might be good for the future to work out plans with her as to how to prepare for such events. you both might not be able to do this during this exam period but could be worked out for exam periods of the future. 

It is such a shame that her exams are stressful, for me when I was at school things were a lot calmer and no stress was put upon us to do well, so I went to exam then went to my friends house had chips watched neighbours and then went to my second exam, and exam time became something I liked.  

I hope that she will be okay.

After the dust fully settles for a bit maybe see if she will tell you what happened to set it all off then.

I hope hugs are a good sign? One thing I know is that individual meltdowns cannot last forever even the long ones. It sounds like this one is winding down at least, so that is something.