Hi,
My child is on the umbrella pathway and is finding school really difficult. Her attendance has dropped to just above 60%. I’ve met with the Ed psychologist and they are due to meet her soon. Has anyone got any advice about how to help her with anxiety? Any techniques others with ASD have found helpful. Fully appreciate that everyone is different but it’s utterly heartbreaking seeing your teen so worried. She currently doesn’t have an EHCP but this is my next battle. Thank you
I'm really sorry your daughter is struggling so much. I completely understand though, I'm not long out of school and remember the sheer horror and stress of it really well.
Have you heard of the anxiety technique 5-4-3-2-1?
I learned this during my mental health problems when my anxiety was at an all time high. It works like this.
-identify 5 things that you can see -identify 4 things you can feel (your back against the chair, etc.) -3 thing you can hear (a car driving by, the tv, your own breath) -2 thing you can smell (we couldn't really smell anything so they said think of 2 smells that we like) -1 thing that you like about yourself.
It has honestly helped me out so many times. It is worth a try when you're getting a bit anxious. I have generalised anxiety disorder and it helps me a lot!
Just concentrating on hearing your breath really helps me too. I don't even notice it normally, but when I consciously focus on hearing my breath it pulls me out of examining all of the thoughts in my mind.
If you check out the Calm website here: https://www.calm.com/blog/5-4-3-2-1-a-simple-exercise-to-calm-the-mind#:~:text=The%2054321%20(or%205%2C%204,1%20thing%20you%20can%20taste.
It explains this technique, probably a lot better than I did lol!
I really hope this helps you and your daughter and I hope she will be feeling better soon 
I really hope this will help you to help her Definitely choose your timing for when to talk to your daughter about this. If she's anxious and in a bad way then she won't be as willing to listen and try something new, I speak from my own experience of this sort of thing.
But I'm sure when it's the right time she will hopefully be willing to give this or other distraction techniques a try and it will help things get better for her. Small steps lead to big strides.
I really hope things will get better for her 
I really hope this will help you to help her Definitely choose your timing for when to talk to your daughter about this. If she's anxious and in a bad way then she won't be as willing to listen and try something new, I speak from my own experience of this sort of thing.
But I'm sure when it's the right time she will hopefully be willing to give this or other distraction techniques a try and it will help things get better for her. Small steps lead to big strides.
I really hope things will get better for her
