Parent experience, Louise

My autistic daughter who is 12 years old really struggles with anxiety. I am finding that the best way to approach things is to follow her lead and do things when she is ready rather than pushing for things to happen as this then makes her even more anxious. When she is even more anxious her sensory issues are higher to match. We are currently trying to transition into a new school and this is taking quite some time as she has been out of school for a few months as her anxiety got too difficult to manage. This is taking slow baby steps and again doing it as she feels ready.

She finds transitions challenging, and it can take a while to become comfortable with a new environment. She may cope with this by rocking and not making eye contact with new people. She doesn’t realise she does rock though. She also uses blue tac to play with and has a fidget ring. These little tools really make a difference and bring comfort to her. Once she is comfortable with a person she can become quite chatty and she enjoys making people laugh.

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