Missing school, insisting she is ill

[18yearstooold]

Dd's attendance this year is 90%

Up until this year she's been close to 100% so this is a new thing -she's 13 and has high functioning aspergers

Each time she swears blind she's ill and spends the day in bed but refuses to go to the doctors and I can't physically make her go -I remove all tech on the days she doesn't go

School haven't started any official process other than the standard 'attendance is important' letter but every time I speak to them I feel intimidated by them

What on earth do I do?

Call the doctor in.

Have you discussed why and what does she say is wrong when she doesn't go in? Anxiety can manifest with real physical symptoms that make someone feel 'ill'.

Maybe she is finding the environment overwhelming as is often the case for people with AS. Is there a specific pattern to the days she takes off - if so maybe she is struggling with certain lessons or teachers.

I would want to try and find out what is going on before calling in doctors or contacting the school. Personally I would make any contact with the school in email or letter so you have a record of what has been said; it is too easy for them to harass parents without fulfilling their duties to sort any bullying or make reasonable adjustments as well.

There's no real pattern to it

I wondered if she'd fallen behind with her homework as I know she gets stressed about that but I checked through and it's all up to date, including the stuff that was due in today

She does suffer a lot with anxiety but manages to keep it under wraps at school

She's definitely not right but it's the sort of thing that previously she would have gone in and seen if she felt better as the day went on

I missed a hell of a lot of school, starting at around that age. In hindsight, it was due to my AS, but we didn't know about it back then. There is probably something that is seriously pushing her buttons wrong and you'll need to figure out what it is.
It could simply be a case of not being able to start her homework, as it seems such a huge pile and that paralyzes her, meaning she doesn't do it at all. Then she knows she will have nothing to show the teacher, so she doesn't want to go to school. Anxiety about it will make her feel ill. This happened to me quite a lot and I would be so relieved if I got to stay home. But at the same time, not attending meant I would get behind. So the next time, I would a) not done the original work and b) not done the new work. So I would feel even more anxious and ill. In the end, I just didn't want to go altogether, as I was so scared of going back when having missed so much.
I still suffer from this from time to time, as logic does not come into it. The feeling of lethargy that starts it all off is not easily battled.

Sorry, I was typing when you replied, so I hadn't seen it isn't about her homework.

Is she entering puberty? That is a hell of a time for most people, but for autistic people it is horrible.