Teenage grandaughter

[Grandmops]

We suspect my teenage 14 year old grandaughter who has ASD is being taken advantage of at school and is buying friends by buying them sweets and chocolate with her dinner money leaving her without any dinner!?? Not sure what we can do as she doesn’t understand the social aspect and will not talk to us or tell us anything?

Can't dinner money be paid on to parent pay or similar? Surely school aren't cash handling in the current environment?

What makes you think that’s happening? Just wondering as you say she wont talk about it.
It’s a difficult one if she won’t open up. There are two things here really - one is her being taken advantage of, and the other is her not having lunch.
The first is harder, but the second can you make sure there is plenty of healthy food she can tuck into when she gets home?
My 14y son with ASD won’t eat school dinners because he hates how noisy and rowdy the dinner hall is. He often skips lunch at school and has a tin of soup or a sandwich when he gets home. He prefers that.
The friends issue is harder, but worth a bit more investigating - maybe a call to her head of year or form teacher?

You should be able to track her school payment card and find out what the money is being spent on.

Are the sweets being purchased off school premises? As most schools have healthy eating policies and tend not to sell sweets. If that's the case I would only put money on the card and not give her cash.

I would also contact her form tutor to see if they can find out what is going on.