DS is 11 with AS, and is home educated.
He's made some very good progress in most areas since he was deregistered but naturally some issues still remain and I'm finding myself out of my depth at times with not knowing how best to support him.
His main problem is with articulating his emotions and experiences, as well as recognising and understanding them in other people. This has implications not only for everyday life but also with his academic work, with which he struggles especially in literacy. Sometimes I can help him describe characters, plots etc but it's very challenging, and sometimes it's a complete brick wall and he simply cannot get it. It's frustrating for us both as I know he wants to understand but it's just not happening. At times he's written beautiful, detailed and descriptive stories and even thoughtful book reviews, which baffles me when he finds it so hard at other times.
My problem is that I'm not sure who is the best professional to approach for help with this. Until recently we had a very good private SALT but she's suddenly decided to take a career break and has left us stranded. We're also awaiting a rescheduled OT appointment which was due to take place last week - would she be able to give input on this?
I should add that ds never got any practical support while in school despite mounting evidence of problems with recognising emotions. There were several reports written giving recommendations for how he could be helped but none of it materialised. The Autism Outreach worker dropped us like a brick as soon as we deregistered so I don't think she'd be much use either.
Any idea who would be the best professional to advise us?