Our 12 year old ASD daughter is really struggling with OCD type behaviours. She has increasingly been saying things are dirty then she will never use them again, demand they are washed or thrown them in the bin. Even things that are really precious to her like her new school pencil case. She is obsessively cleaning her hands and having showers too.
We paid to see private psychiatrist in February and her advice was we need to nip any of these behaviours in the bud, as there is a big risk here that it will spiral and more and more things will be classed as dirty. So don’t agree to washing things and don’t enable the obsessive thoughts. Well it has really spiralled and she now thinks that me (her mum) and her younger brother are dirty. She won’t let me prepare her food etc. She is so distressed when we try and suggest to her that things are not dirty and don’t need washed. She is clearly keeping a running list of what she thinks is contaminated and it must be so exhausting for her.
Has anyone else been through something similar? Or has any advice?
She is on waiting list for CAHMS but hasn’t got appointment until end August (2 year wait so far). We have had to call 111 a couple of times as she has been so distressed and refusing to come out of the shower and I can see that will only get more frequent.
Many thanks
A struggling mum
