DD 17 has ASD and a bit down at the moment - she overthinks things a lot, if she gets quite stressed it manifests as indigestion. She confides in me quite a lot when I get home from work - which I'm glad about, however quite often what happens is that she will tell me what's worrying her and if I dont react sympathetically enough she or how she expects me to, or even have the wrong facial expression then she gets annoyed or upset and walks off or says "it doesnt matter/you clearly dont care/you dont get it." The thing is I do feel sorry for her and really want to help her, I am very patient and calm with her- to the point that my other family members sometimes think I pander to her too much. What makes it worse is that I think she is aware of how she is too and that makes it feel worse.
Obviously I feel bad when she reacts like this and I know I do say the wrong thing sometimes but at the same time I hate having to feel like I have to bend over backwards to say the right thing/act the right way to please her. I feel like we're caught in this toxic trap with each other and need someone from the outside to give some perspective, because the issue is probably with both of us!
I'm thinking of contacting family support as I'm starting to feel quite desperate at this daily situation. Just wondering if anyone has any experience or wisdom?
@AutismProf