No treatment - any positive stories please

[Jaq2]

My autistic DS15 has been depressed and anxious since at least January. Were on waiting list for counselling but he became suicidal in March. Had A&E and Camhs assessments x 6 by May, assigned a case worker who saw us end of May and again 2 weeks ago. Passed us on to Youth Worker who we saw 2 days ago. My boy is very reluctant to speak to anyone now about his feelings (including me) as nobody has offered him any help or hope that things could get better plus because of his autism he struggles with describing his feelings, especially to strangers. He is not in school at all now and spends his time watching Youtube videos, no self care, no Lego, no board games with us, no exercise or going outside. Camhs have said if he will not (I think he cannot?) engage with them they can offer him no treatment so currently I am going to be booked onto several autism awareness workshops in the autumn and Camhs will reassess him after I have done that and put into practice anything I have learned. Please, has anyone had similar experiences? Is anything likely to get better with no treatment whatsoever? I'm hoping a lot of it was autistic burnout from constant masking at school and he will gradually begin to feel more like engaging with us again. If I suggest he brushes his teeth, has a shower, comes for a walk, does some Lego, etc I just get scowls and grumpy words. Any suggestions how we can make things better for him? We could pay for private therapy but if he won't talk I don't know if that would be helpful. Do we just have to sit it out, trying to keep him safe, for weeks, months, years?? Sorry for the long post, just feeling pretty useless at the moment.

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your child's difficulties. I just thought, this could be of some interest maybe?
www.acupuncturecollege.org.uk/articles/a-feasibility-study-of-acupuncture-for-the-treatment-of-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorder#:~:text=Discussion,challenges%20that%20autistic%20children%20face.

With all social and health services now being "overwhelmed" to such a point, it is maybe worthwhile to look for some available alternatives? Besides this study above, I know of a non verbal teenager who has received a similar treatment and actually liked it, also with good results. To minimise stress, treatment was delivered at his own home and it was not necessary for him to describe his feelings and so on as this type of therapy does not require this type of engagement...so I hope that would be a bit of a positive story? Best of luck, I hope things will get better soon for you and your child.

Thanks, that's very interesting. I had acupuncture when I was having IVF, didn't help me conceive but did make me feel better. Sadly my son has a needle phobia and when I tried to do some acupressure on his hand he said it felt too weird so it may not be for him but hope it might help others. Thanks for your kind thoughts too.