Elliott’s anxiety is absolutely through the roof. He’s been crying all morning because he doesn’t want to go to school.
These are fake tears either, he actually in distress and I’m not sure what we can do to help him.
I know he needs medication but the last time didn’t go very well at all. We’re back to see the psychiatrist on Wednesday morning and hopefully walk away with a better solution.
The one thing that’s always consistent with Elliott and this anxiety issue is that he says things like, it’s going to take to long, I can’t wait that long or it takes forever.
When he says these things, he’s not coming across to me as simple impatient. This seems like he is absolutely in distress.
Do any of you folks experience anything like this? If any of my adult friends with Autism could provide me with insight, I would be eternally grateful.
Thank you 🙂
**Thanks for reading**
-Lost and Tired
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Posted from WordPress for Android so please forgive the typos. Auto-correct and I don’t get along very well.
Our psychiatrist just recommended we start celexa for my 6-year-old's anxiety. (PDD-NOS and ADHD.) I'm still coming to terms with it, but hoping it helps him cope with everyday life. Getting out of the house can be rough for us, too.
My son used to say that all of the time pre-medicine. It turned out what he was saying was that school was too long. He worked so hard to keep it together at school and the length of the school day was just too much for him to handle. We also learned that he had figured out how many minutes the school day was and he was actually spending his time counting down until he could leave. So much for learning…. Anyway, it took about a year (sorry…) but we finally found a good combination of medicines for his anxiety and we've found that when he isn't overwhelmed by crippling anxiety he is a pretty affectionate and loving boy. Best wishes to you.
It's possible the 'It takes too long' is coming from the anxiety of not knowing set dates and times for certain events to start and end. Does his routine at school vary at all, or is it the same every day? And can he count basic time yet, to where a watch could help? If he can't tell when something is going to start or end he may be anxiously waiting for the next thing to start. Also reassure him of the daily plans, send him to school with a picture schedule of what will happen when he gets home (Try to keep the first thing at home the same, so he knows what to expect every time).
So like, first subject ends at ___ time, then lunch starts at ___time, and then lunch ends at this time and the next thing starts after that at ___ time. Then after school you (get picked up, take the bus, etc) and when you get home we do this first (take shoes off, do some sensory activities, get started on homework).
Hi Rob, I am new to reading your posts. We actually went to school together and my parents told me about your blog from an article that they read in the About magazine. Anyways, my son is 7 and was diagnosed with Aspergers in October. We are learning about this and how to handle certain things, it's always a learning process. My son says the same things and gets distressed. It helps that he has an aide at school who sits and helps him, as he puts it, "stay focused". I can't offer any help, but I'd love to hear what others have to say. Thank you for writing this blog and helping me understand that we are not alone in this! 🙂
My son is 11 and he says stuff like that too and before he was on medicine he cried to not go to school a lot. He is on valproic acid for his anxiety because he is very aggressive when he gets anxious and it has helped a lot but if he is tired the medicine doesn't help much. I don't have a solution but just thought I would let you know that we deal with that too.
When I get anxious about doing things, even things I have done successfully many times before, I'll be because I feel there is too much involved; there are too many individual factors to process. For example, going out involves: making sure everything's safe in the house, turning off lights, finding my keys, finding my coat, finding my shoes (with small children in the house, these things are not always where I left them), remembering why I am going out (which might in itself be making me anxious), going through the plan in my head (ditto), making sure I have everything I need (including my bag of 'comfort items'), actually locking the house, getting in the car, backing up so I can get out of the drive… only then am I actually ready to go.
If I am already stressed (tired, hungry, overwhelmed by any number of other factors, etc.), struggling with any one of these seemingly small tasks could be be the last straw (e.g. I can't find my keys), and I won't go. It's too much. On top of all that, the great outdoors is waiting to ambush me as it is; I have to be in a good state before I can face it.