ASD and anxiety

[Sholiz74]

Hello. Can anyone help. My son is diagnosed with ASD and ADHD. In the last 12 months his mental health has declined, he is overwhelmed by life, does not go out, refuses school. Saw a CAMHS psychiatrist who basically said he has ASD, its part of the spectrum what do you want me to do about it? Its not a mental health illness but a mental health disorder and he cannot give anything medication to assist him. Basically said bugger off and do a parenting course. I just want to help my son, he is so changed in the last year. I have had conflicting advise about this, can anyone point me towards what I can expect for him. School are trying to get him into a special school, but asd does not meet their criteria, you have to be unfit to attend school.....he is but not in the 'right' way. Seems as if here ASD means you get overlooked for any help at all. Dont know whether to laugh or cry!!

Any one?

That sounds really tough. Unfortunately it's not uncommon to be sent around on a loop with ASD and mental health difficulties. Things also vary a lot from area to area so it's hard to know what to suggest. My eldest's (12 with ASD) referral to the mental health service here was declined twice on the basis his difficulties were because of ASD and they only got involved if the problems were not related to ASD. But when I finally managed to get a referral through, the Clinical Psychologist referred him to a specific CBT course for children with ASD struggling with anxiety.

Does he have an EHCP? Have you found any schools you think would be a good match?

That is a shocking thing for CAMHS to say OP.

If your son's mental health has declined so much over the last year I would first make an appointment to see your GP. It may be that medication could help in the short term.

Then I would put in a complaint to CAMHS and ask for someone else to see your son.It is possible he could have CBT therapy. My son had this and benefited from it enormously.

The NAS has a lot of useful stuff on their site :

www.autism.org.uk/about/in-education/exclusion/school-refusal-strategies.aspx

They also have a helpline:

www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/about-us/contact-us.aspx

It does not sound as though the LA are doing much. Has your son had an EHC needs assessment? if not apply for one yourself. All the information you need is here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-you-need-to-know/ehc-needs-assessments

IPSEA also have a helpline but it can be difficult to get appointments so you have to keep trying.

Hope this helps a bit.