Autism/Anxiety

tracy · by **tracy** on Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:28 am

Ahhhh, so my girl has Autism and just the worst anxiety - it is honestly tearing my little family apart- and NO ONE wants to help. Child and Youth Mental Health does not help kids with Autism (I kid you not that is what the person on the phone said to me!!!) the psycologists I has so far spoken to have said they are just not "trained" to "deal" with my child :shock:

what on earth am I ment to do????? she is SO angry, and scared, and having panic attacks, anxiety attacks - screaming and yelling - it leads to me be very anxious and upset myself she is being AWFUL (when she is not in the middle of panic/anxiety attacks) to her sister and myself. So what do I do?

TazDevil · by **TazDevil** on Fri Apr 06, 2012 1:22 pm

My child does not have Autism, but she does have ADHD and suffers quite a bit from anxiety as related to the disorder.

I am not sure how old your child is but does she qualify for funding for specialists? I know a friends child has therapy most days a week but he is under school age.

With us we went the diet and supplement route and that has helped incredibly.

Here are some things we do.

1> No artificial food dye, especially yellow (tartrazine), red and blue.
2> Limited dairy. She only eats cheese.
3> Wheat free. We have her on spelt, rice, rye etc (she can have gluten).
4> Kali Phos 6x for stress attacks (It is available in the Vitamin Store). It is Calcium Phosphate in sugar so it is very sweet.
5> Vitamin B complex - we use a capsule and put it in her juice. It helps a lot with the stress.

We also found that spending one on one time with her everyday helping her talk through any issues and providing positive reinforcement was a big help to her. Although I am not sure of the severity of your child's diagnosis so I am not sure if that is an option.

The biggest one was patience and understanding and not taking it personally or getting upset. If we don't react then she handles it way better than if we get upset or stressed too.

tracy · by **tracy** on Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:34 pm

TazDevil thanks for responding she has been on a GF/CF diet for 18 months (all aditives/colourings ect are out as well) She takes the suppliments she can -but is VERY sensitve and many make her more "edgy" and uncomfortable - not sure that makes any sence but that is the best way I can explain it.
I try my hardest to stay calm, but it is hard, she often wakes anxious, and it just gets worse as the day goes on (we homeschool) and the day goes on and on and on - by the end of the day it is just crazy making, for all in the house - she screams, yells, throws things, ect - the anxity is pretty bad

She does not want to leave the house ever anymore, but is in a therapy almost every day, she loves some, hates some, some deal with the anxiety lots are not for that at all.
Bottom line, all our lives are VERY effected by this, it is so hard to watch, and SO wish there was someone to do CBT therapy with her, but there does not seem to be - that is what we are looking for.

nolan's mom · by **nolan's mom** on Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:49 pm

Have you ever had your dd do counselling with Catherine Paxton? I don't have any experience with the her but I've heard both really good and some bad things about her. It's certainly worth a shot. You can just google her. Also check out the Anxiety BC website to see if there is anything that you may be able to use with your dd for strategies.

tracy · by **tracy** on Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:50 am

Thanks Nolans Mom, I have printed off a bunch of stuff on the Anxiety BC site last week. My dd already has two therapists, she really does not need another, she needs a psycologist - but apparently they are not trained to "deal" with kids that are autistic :roll:

So that leaves me/her very much stuck, struggling, in a very sad place.......I do have a few leads now on some NP things that might help, but she REALLY needs some CBT therapy.

Deb M · by **Deb M** on Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:45 am

Get in touch with Lisa Hansen at the F.O.R.C.E. she will be able to meet with you one-on-one and help you navigate the Mental Health system.

tracy · by **tracy** on Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:17 am

Thanks Deb, I will do that - had not thought to contact her - great idea!

bennett.cynthia74 · by **bennett.cynthia74** on Fri May 04, 2012 3:43 am

I understand you are in a very awful situation with hardly any solutions, but keep on your patience please.

Island-JJ · by **Island-JJ** on Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:02 am

tracy wrote:Ahhhh, so my girl has Autism and just the worst anxiety - it is honestly tearing my little family apart- and NO ONE wants to help. Child and Youth Mental Health does not help kids with Autism (I kid you not that is what the person on the phone said to me!!!) the psycologists I has so far spoken to have said they are just not "trained" to "deal" with my child what on earth am I ment to do????? she is SO angry, and scared, and having panic attacks, anxiety attacks - screaming and yelling - it leads to me be very anxious and upset myself she is being AWFUL (when she is not in the middle of panic/anxiety attacks) to her sister and myself. So what do I do?

CYMH doesn't see kids with autism, that's true. Makes perfect sense that the woman told you that on the phone.

She should also have told you that DDMHT are the ones who see the autistic kids for mental health issues, the people at CYMH know that and should have told you.

Get a referral in to DDMHT (Developmental Disability Mental Health Team), they are the ones who ARE trained and staffed to deal with that sort of situation.

There are also a few psychiatrists at BCCH who can deal with it but the referral would have to come from a local psychiatrist asking them for help.