Hi, I’m new here. Came across the Facebook page about an upcoming webinar and I’m so grateful I did. I joined immediately and I hope I get to find help and advice and support. I feel very overwhelmed and I don’t even know where or how to start helping my 15 yr old son. We did a whole psych evaluation a few weeks ago because I wanted to make sure we weren’t missing anything. He has had severe OCD and ADD since he was about 7yrs old. Recently he has a very bad anxiety and depression with suicidal thoughts. We’ve seen therapists and psychiatrist for medication. I’m so glad I did the evaluation just to know more. He was diagnosed with ASD which I suspected. Before we were told he had ODD and is very defiant and argumentative but with ASD it makes so much more sense. He also has some separation anxiety with traits of Dependent Personality Disorder. These new diagnoses are hard to swallow sometimes and I’m here to figure out how to start helping him. We were told that we need to find a therapist who specializes in neurodivergent brain and can work with ASD teens. I was also suggested by the head psychologist to look into local residential treatment center where he could figure all things out and work on OCD and depression too. So I’ve been trying to look into treatment centers and see if those would be an option for my boy. It’s heartbreaking! He carries a lot of trauma due to our divorce fours years ago, his dad also had an affair when my son was a toddler so he was pretty much an absent father. My son carries a lot of hate and resentment towards his dad and he gets panic attacks and acts out every time he had to go to his dad’s house. I know it’s part of anxiety and flight mode and part of it is not knowing how to handle the intense amount of stress when he has to switch homes. So I guess my few questions are the following #1 How and where do I start educating myself? I ordered the book. But the Facebook page has so many posts and videos and webinars - it’s wonderful but so overwhelming. Is there a simple way to start figuring out what and how to do as a parent? #2 how do I help my other kids (12 and 17) to understand what their brother is dealing with. I want them to understand that he is not just trying to annoy everyone around him, or his not just trying to be disobedient but that he is really struggling with all the things. I want my kids to learn to have compassion and understanding so they can be kinder and more patient. #3 How do I help my son understand what ASD is? He wanted to read the report after the evaluation. We talked a lot about his strengths and also some of his struggles. I tried to explain to him that his brain simply just wired differently and he needs some extra processing times in certain areas. But for him ASD means being dumb. I guess that’s all for now. I’m sure I will have million of other stuff to ask. Oh also - are there anyone here from Utah? I would like to have a support system close by

Posted by beatrix78 at 2023-12-17 18:11:01 UTC