Autism and Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal human emotion and usually lasts for a short time.
It is an emotion that alerts us to a problem and all children may need support in order to work out a way through anxiety-provoking situations.
'Our daughter developed significant mental health difficulties. She internalised her anxieties. It has really helped her to have a better understanding of her autism, so that she doesn't blame herself for struggling socially.'
Mum of a child on the autism spectrum.
Video
You may be interested in this video where Dr. Tony Attwood discusses dealing with anxiety issues for autistic people. You can watch it below.
Whilst ‘worry’ tends to refer to the repetitive negative thoughts in our heads, anxiety can affect our entire body in a physical way too.
Such transient challenges are a part of growing up and how adults respond to children’s low level worries have an impact on their developing resilience.
The stages of a crisis
The diagram below shows the curve of what happens when a young person on the spectrum experiences anxiety. We will discuss this more in the ‘The stages of a crisis’ section of this course.
Kaplan and Wheeler (1983) crisis stages diagram.
If you want to know more information on anxiety, you could access our Coping with Anxiety and Panic Disorder course, accessible via the courses section of our website.
'I hold my breath when I am near people. I want them to move away.'
Fifteen year old on the autism spectrum.