Anyone used CBT with a child with HFA?

[lisad123]

Just wondering.
DD1 is highly anixous and its getting extreme. She refuses to leave the house, eat and struggles to sleep :(
We do force her to leave house and we make sure she eats, but as she gets older i cant see how we can continue that.

Yes CBT can be used with children; it can help with anxiety, low mood and depresssion, social phobias etc. CBT is used for working with kids, young people and adults on the autistic spectrum and appears to be effective. Perhaps your gp's surgery offers something? If private check the bacp website for cbt therapists in your area.

Lisa- its worth a try but quite often it doesn't work for the Autistic brain, i started CBT just before christmas and had no resaults, i then saw another therapist and when i explained that i was possibly on the spectrum they said often CBT doesn't work because its harder to remove thoughts that are so strong from the autistic brain. For me it had no effect what so ever , i'm still looking for an alternitive. Anything is worth a go though as each person is different and there are good CBT therapists out there who may be able to help.

CBT sounds like it would be ideal for your daughter. My son's world was ever decreasing, couldn't go into shops, scared of foods, scared of germs (OCD AND ASD) and his world was shrinking.

CBT really helped me to understand how to change how I dealt with his fears. Let's say the fear was marshmallows, so he couldn't go into sweetshops, supermarkets because that food was in there to, CBT taught me how to gradually expose him to those foods using pictures first, then having them in boxes, then in the same room and gradually getting it to the point where he could have it on his tongue then sweet shops and supermarkets were accessible to us again.

We were extremely fortunate because they taught the family in one room and the children in another. So we learned how to give constant reassurance which is only natural to an anxious child can feed the fears and to show us under guidance only, it takes a long time and the child understanding the techniques and why you are doing it before you withdraw your reassurance. DOn't take this as a template you need professional help to do this but I would say go for it, work with it, prepare for a very rocky road, but look to the end of that and give it your best shot.

GOod luck.