8 year old daughter
Hi,
I’m not really sure if this is the right place but I really need some help.
I have an 8 year old daughter who is possibly autistic (we currently live in Scotland and the wait to see anyone is pretty much nonexistent now, we are actually moving to Australia in a few months so I am hoping we will be able to get some answers there). For the most part she is good, my little right hand lady but then all of a sudden something will switch (there is no known trigger) and loose control.
She struggles with the sensory side of things and getting dressed in the mornings, like refuses point blank to put undies on let alone the rest of her clothes. To the point where she is now becoming increasingly violent towards me, hitting, kicking, spitting you name it. She screams so loudly that the neighbours have called social services as well as the police on us, as it sounds like we are, to put it plainly, trying to kill her. What they don’t hear is us just asking her to get dressed, which she’s been doing independently since she was 2. But once she gets home from school she doesn’t strip off until her shower later in the evening so the clothes/undies can’t be that uncomfortable?
We’ve seen an OT which gave us nothing we haven’t already been trying and she currently sees a play therapist who says to acknowledge her struggles and try to keep empathetic (which we do for the most part). Sometimes we can get her down from a huge meltdown if we catch it quick enough however lately she goes from 0 to 100 so quickly.
I’m not looking for judgment — I know behavior is communication and I know she’s struggling too. I’m just exhausted, worried and I feel like a wheel of the person I once was, I feel like we’re missing something important.
For parents who’ve gone through this:
What kind of professional actually helped? (Behavioral therapist? Psychologist? Psychiatrist? Neurologist?)
Did anything help reduce aggression or improve regulation?
Were there underlying issues that turned out to be contributing (anxiety, PDA profile, sensory issues, ADHD, sleep, etc.)?
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who’ve been there because right now I feel very alone in this.
Thank you.