DS is almost 13. Has ASD, ADHD, ODD, crippling anxiety and low self esteem. Lots going on with him currently that we're gradually trying to unpick, but there's one thing we're absolutely stumped on.
He has several rituals he has to follow when walking, such as not stepping on cracks, having to put a foot down level with a tyre if a car passes, taking even number of steps when passing houses... There are several of these and they frequently contradict each other, which causes him a lot of stress.
He always walks with his head down because he's concentrating on exactly where his feet land, and he's also scared that if he doesn't he will trip over (I don't think he's tripped since he was a toddler so I think it's more that the habit of looking at his feet is so ingrained that he's scared not to).
Recently he's become embarrassed and self conscious about people noticing him walking 'weirdly' and looking down. He's also started to become aware of the harm caused by bad posture.
Listening to headphones isn't an option - he's the first to admit he will forget where he is and step into the road or something.
He usually walks to and from school with a friend and while they're chatting he doesn't follow any of his rituals, but he doesn't want to walk anywhere on his own or with us.
Does this sound like OCD? I don't know how to help him with this. CAMHS are no help, he just gets a quarterly ADHD meds review and that's it.