DD1 has HFA and I'm worried she is depressed :(

[lisad123isasnuttyasaboxoffrogs]

she's eight and had dx if HFA since she was 5 but nit formally till 6.
Lately she is very teary, doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to go out, has no get up and go, and she's not sleeping well either.
I just don't know if it's the autism or if she could be depressed. Anyone found camhs helpful with their Asd child?

, we had this with dd1 a few weeks ago (i think i posted on here and maybe FB), dd1 was like it for a week (crying, not eating, not sleeping and saying 'she had sad thoughts'), i beleive it is a form of depression , we didn't phone CAHMS, when she was at her worst it was a weekend and we could not contact anyone after a few days she improved and within a week was back to her normal self. Depression is a huge part of ASD (even more so for girls/females, i know dd1 will have to end up on medication (anti-d's). You could try CAHMS or your GP (depending on how helpful your gp is). Sorry i cant be more help but i can offer hand holding, its so hard to watch or little ones go through this .

It is since she has been back at school :(
We are due to see paed on weds for dd2 (they have same paed) and so can ask her.
I just don't know what to do. I had to force her to eat lunch, otherwise she wouldn't eat anything.

Dd1's was after feb half term and then this monday she would not go too school (said her tummy hurt but was fine as soon as i got back from taking dd2 to school), she's now happy again as she's moving school in a few weeks, i dont think she realises that she will still be the same at the new school and is likely to have the same problems . With dd1 i just tried to keep her busy (keep her mind off of things) which is easier said then done when they refuse to go anywhere, i had to drag her out of the house (bribe her), bed times were the worst as thats when her mind works over time.

Deffently ask paed on wed's, they might be able to help or refer her to someone who can help. Hope she feels happier soon xxx

Oh, lisa, no advice I'm afraid, but ((((hugs)))) for you both.

my DS ASD (11) gets depressed and has tried self harm CAMHS have not helped at all they keep putting off a proper assesment making excuses why best to wait ,he has stopped self harmimng now and has begun being more settled but i think it was all the appointments we were having the final DX and worry about school as he was being bullied he still talks very negativly though which is a worry and i must admit i bawled my eyes out the first time he said" i wish i were dead", no mother wants to hear that but i think he also got worse the older hes got because hes become more "aware" now of the differences between him and his NT brother and sister and peers at school. all you can do is keep reasuring and giving them love and distract from these thoughts as much as possible CAMHS seem very reluctant to prescribe him anything even for sleep without a full assesment which there refusing to do (hes seen CAMHS once but is officially under them so i cant see why) , but as its calmed down right now im not making a fuss but believe me if he gets that bad again ill be camping on there doorstep. the tummy thing sounds very familiar ive heard tummy aches are common in asd i think its a nerves thing but your right bedtimes the worse when its quiet and things run through their minds bless, i do hope your DD feels a bit better soon my DS was the same couldnt get him out the house for love nor money and began refusing to go to school but as things are settling hes become a lot better still has bad days of course , once i was put on the 13 week waiting list to see them , i was given a phone number to ring to chat to them day or night if he had any episodes or tried to self harm or run away terrible that even when trying to self harm though you still have to wait weeks reguardless as there like everyone so under staffed and under funded and as they very nicely (sarcasm) kept reminding me there are children worse than your son some actually do end up in hospital after such attempts hmmm i feel so much better after chatting with them NOT. sorry i digressed what i mean to say is basically yes ASD and depression i think can go hand in had especially when there more aware .

You could phone NAS helpline and see what they suggest (apparently they are very helpful).

Sorry your dd is going through this, Lisa.
My dd is 10, with AS, and goes through periods like this. There was a particularly bad episode when she was also 8 -she's so active, but just lay around, went off her food, didn't have any interest in going out.

We got in touch with CAMHS and. as other posters have said, we were told that it's definitely not unusual in children with ASD, particularly girls. They were pushing to medicate her (prozac) but I resisted because I wanted to try other things first.

I don't know if this will help, as all of our dc are different, but I did the following, and she came through it after a few weeks :

. Made sure she was getting plenty of sleep at night -usually she needed a really warm bath and dh or me to lie with her 'til she fell asleep.

. Diet -small, regular meals/snacks as she couldn't face big meals. She would have a few strawberries and grapes in a bowl, then some dried cheerios a bit later, or a smoothy;etc. This was hard, because the food she actually fancied eating was junk food, so we had to steer her away from it.

.Exercise -we sometimes had to drag her to the park or for a short walk, but it definitely helped her to relax a bit and lowered her anxiety.

.Limiting stress by reducing any activities/visits etc -again tricky, because we didn't want to isolate her, so we cut back to a large degree but still encouraged her to do things like meeting friends for 20 mins at the park. However, we postponed things that caused high anxiety eg she was due to visit a new school.

.DD has loads of sensory issues, so we tried to alleviate her feelings of overload by keeping things as calm and quiet as possible eg turning the TV off, keeping her room tidy and tranquil etc. As she improved, we gradually reintroduced more stimulation, but she will never cope with 'normal' amounts anyway.

. Reminding her that it's ok and normal to feel down at times. She didn't know why she felt so rotten, so we just reassured her that it would pass in time and gave her extra cuddles.

I realise this all sounds a bit like teaching your Granny to suck eggs (!) and we all do a lot of theses things as a matter of course anyway, but I found we had to step it all up a gear when dd was depressed.
I really feel for you and your dd, it's so heartbreaking. DD is also really struggling at the moment and it's horrible.
I hope your dd feels better soon. Of course, if you are worried, contact your GP or Camhs. Sometimes it just helps to have someone to offer advice or a fresh pair of eyes xx

Oh dear, poor little thing. And poor you. It's rotten.

My son has had two new diagnoses in this past ten months or so. OCD and Tourettes (verbal tic not swearing - but controllable shouting out of sentences and odd words) to add to his ASD (high functioning) diagnosis at age 4. He's now 10.

Yes, I do believe these conditions and depressive illness go hand in hand with the ASD. We are under CAMHS and our psychiatrist has been excellent. My son tried Sertraline for 6 months but had to come off it because of side effects (and actually, wasn't noticeably better on it) and next week, because things are just so bad, he will have a trial of Risperidone. He is really rather ill. I used to think the ASD was the end of the world til all this stuff started.

It's all about stress and anxiety and isolation. The services nationwide are pretty appauling and about to be cut so, I don't know what the answer is.

I'm so sorry to hear your dd is like this. Isist on some help. xx

uncontollable !!!!

It probably is worth asking for a CAMHS referral because if it's still there by the time she gets to the top of a waiting list she will need help.

We are lucky in that our CAMHS service is good and they take things like this seriously. Both my girls have very low self esteem which is v common with ASD and CAMHS have been good at giving them support and me advice as to how to help them.

Al1son.....just out of interest? What practical help have you had for your girls? Is it counselling? My son was having CBT but is now too unwell to access it.

thanks for all the advice and hand holding.
I will certainly ask the paed if she can refer to Camhs, but i know our camhs team arent great with ASD. I will look at CBT.
She has alot to contend with for an 8 year old, poor love. Shes highly inteligent and isnt challenged very well in her new class :( she has a little sister with autism and they share a room, plus dh cancer makes her worry, nanny had a stroke a few weeks back and I have a heart problem that id being dealt with atm.

She has gone to bed with a CD of sleepy music I have, which seems to help calm her enough to sleep for last two nights, and I will certainly be looking at her diet as she is a sugar addict at the moment.

I know as a girl with Autism she is a high risk of depression but I dont think Im ready for it yet, shes only a baby :(

wendihouse DD1 couldn't cope with CBT a first. It did a lot of damage and they've spent a year going very gently getting her to trust them and open up to them. She has meds which help and has just had an appt where CBT was introduced again (without calling it that) and I think she's just about ready to give it a go.

PM me if you'd like to know more.

I wasn't ready for the anxiety which led to my son's additional dx of OCD because he was so little (9) but....it came.

Son't want to be a doom monger but it could be that she is already suffering depression.

I have been prepared for the depression, and its not been going on very long, just suddenly came on.
She is very intouch with her own feelings and knows shes autistic so wonder if CBT might be the way forward.
We discuss with Paed weds and go from there.

Lisa, i have had CBT and tbh it doesn't always work for the ASD brain (well in my expereance it didn't work at all and my therapist says it's because of my ASD traits). There are other therapys which may be better than CBT.

Good luck for wed, hope you manage to get somewhere xx

paed said she will see her, but wont refer to CAMHs as they arent good with ASD, which i know but did suggest a group that can help (hopefully)

Can I but in? HELP!! Marne....my son has ASD from aged 4, (he's now 10) and OCD/Tourettes from Oct last year. Am at my wits end. CBT has not worked. He sees the CAMHS counsellor every week (or was doing) and took it all on board and the moment we stepped outside, he'd just be right back where he started.

He's now shocking. Has started on Risperidone yesterday (reluctantly, I add - but he's quite ill) and I'm lost in it all.

I wish I could go back to the high functioning ASD days.....