Help and Advise

[Anonmum88]

Hello, this is my first post so I hope I’m posting in the correct place.

I have suspected my 13dd has autism for some considerable time, I have 3 other children.

Because my daughter has been able to function through school life etc , I’ve never gone down the route of diagnosis, call it naive, inexperience or me being in denial.

over the last few years behaviour/ moods have been particularly difficult to deal with at home, unfortunately any discussion with her regarding autism results in a complete shut down on her behalf. My dd masks her emotions at school and virtually goes into melt down mode when she’s at home, I suppose stimming in her own way.
there is no communication from her and she refuses to talk about anything and just closes off completely.

I’m becoming more and more upset by her behaviours just wanting to care for her and help her where I can , but it’s almost as if she’s disowned me , her sister and her dad , she has always been wildly independent and now just refuses most meals I offer her , and makes her own food and drinks.
she has become more and more withdrawn from family and opts for online friends to talk to.

I know there doesn’t really appear to be a question specifically that I’m asking , but has anyone else been through this or able to offer any advice. It’s really starting to effect my own health.

thank you for reading

What kind of food is she making for herself @Anonmum88? My Dd is on the pathway and slightly older. They and we suspect she has ARFID so she can find family meals overwhelming. She has food in the freezer that she can have instead if she can't face joining us one night. That has taken the pressure off a lot.

Is there anything that she likes doing with you at all? My DD won't do most things but she will watch Netflix with me if I provide snacks. DH will disappear if he's home and DD is wanting to do this as he knows it's one of the few occasions that she will actually chat to me.

Have you discussed the possibility of ASD with her?

I second looking at ARFID. Keep dripping information about ASD to DD and in time she may come round to the idea of an assessment.