Hello - our daughter was diagnosed with autism and dyslexia at the age of 10 in Y6 and is in Y8 now. She is successful in many ways - gets good grades, is a nationally ranked sports person and has lots of friends. In the last year, however, she has become more and more socially withdrawn from us. We are a supportive and loving family. Mum (me) neurotypical but her father and two siblings have ADHD. We work hard to support our kids with their challenges and to create routines and calm environments. Despite all of this our daughter, who used to be very close to us, has withdrawn to her bedroom anytime she isn't at school or an activity. When we encourage her to come and spend time with us doing the things she used to love - watching movies, playing board games, just being with us, tells us she doesn't like being around anyone and gets angry. She has become more and more emphatic about not wanting to be with us. She has broken phone rules multiple times (managed to get around the limits we set) and has spent 7-8 hours on the phone, mostly messaging people. She used to be able to interact when we had company and now won't speak to anyone. Yet, she gets along great with her mates and routinely seeks them out while completely shutting us out. She says it is because they don't ask anything of her, which isn't correct, because she is clearly masking with them and with us she is excessively rude and blunt all the time. Her two siblings adore her and she used to adore them and now she wants nothing to do with either of them.
She does not seem like she is in a healthy place at all. She says she hates therapists and doesn't want to speak to one. I just don't know the best person to speak to about what is going on. Is there some sort of support group or mentor that can speak to her or us about this? We have an older daughter as well and know what teens are like, but this feels different and far more worrying than normal teen stuff.
Thank you!
