Autistic teen locked out of iphone - help!!!

[MarthaWilliam]

DD's MH is not good, has attempted suicide in past, self harms etc etc. She is autistic (prev given diagnosis of Asperger's but no longer uses the term). Has somehow managed to get locked out of her iPhone. Needs to get onto iTunes and unlock it that way. But.. Can't get back in as needs 2 step verification from iTunes in the form of a text message to her phone 🤯 stupid catch 22 situation. Poor DD is absolutely going bananas, lots of stimming and minor self harm already (scratching herself and pulling her hair). Her whole life is on that phone and she gets very anxious without it. I don't know how to help, I do not use Apple products. If we put her sim card into a different phone will that work? Have booked a phone appointment for tomorrow, someone from Apple will call us. Has anyone used this customer service before? Please help us! (Please no comments about DD being 'too attached' to her phone, we all know she uses it too much but she has been isolated and bullied in school for many years and has made some friends from drama clubs and youth group who she can only stay in touch with via her phone. It really is her lifeline.) She is insistant that she didn't change the login code but she must have, to have got into this situation? I just want to cry for her 😪 I don't think she has backed up anything on it, or if she has, this hasn't been done in a long time.

Whenever I've needed to speak to Apple Support they've been very helpful and competent. I would have thought they'll get her sorted tomorrow, this must happen pretty frequently! If she can't log in to her itunes or icloud account on a computer because of the two factor problem it sounds like she'll have to wait until then.

I had this with my phone a couple of years ago. I swear I hadn’t changed the pin but suddenly it stopped working and locked me out. Apple tech support helped me fix it when I spoke to them though.
If this was me with my DC I would:

• reassure her that you know it likely wasn’t anything she did, that this sometimes happens because iPhones are annoying buggers!
• let her know the exact time of the call booked for tomorrow and reassure her that it should be fixed during the call.
• try to work on calming techniques for the meantime! Easier said than done I know. Is there a app she uses frequently that she could login to on another device, that might calm her?

Good luck.

Thanks for the replies xx I am going out of my mind with stress as she has got such an attachment to the flipping phone and all her data (years of text conversations etc.) is on there.

We have just realised that you can go on Instagram on a PC so she has been doing that for a bit and is very relieved she can still do that. Whatsapp has signed her out of her laptop, she did have it on there as well as her phone, I guess because the phone became disabled???
This is disconcerting as she uses it a lot and does not have the ability / confidence to ask to get added back into groups.

@NLondondiva I am so glad it worked out for you with the Apple tech support, I remember reading years ago that a lady died and bequeathed her iPad full of her thoughts and poems to her then-teenage kids but they didn't know the password so they were permanently locked out; so I have been very worried that they won't be helpful. Fingers crossed for the call I guess...

WhatsApp is connected to your phone number - fairly sure she will still be in same groups even if she Had to get a new phone or whatever (previous conversations probably wiped though)

Going forward maybe back up once a week or something !! And use google photos or something to back those up!

I’d take the sim out and try it in another phone - it will likely work and you’d receive the text message ?

I think she will really struggle if her Whatsapps are deleted 😬 may be a very painful learning process for her I guess. She does have the iCloud (? I think that it's called that) for her photos but not sure when it last did a back-up. As she is legally an adult I can't make her but it was something I had been nagging her to do for weeks and weeks and weeks.

I will try sim in a different phone tomorrow if she allows me to. Thank you xx

Follow these steps: support.apple.com/en-us/HT204974

Thank you for all the advice- we put the sim in a different phone and then wiped the iPhone but amazingly it had been regularly backing itself up so she has not lost anything. Even the WhatsApp messages are still there. Very relieved and DD is very pleased also x

WhatsApp would still have her in groups. I never back up my phone like I used to as it now does it automatically, is it possible hers has?