In today’s Advice Thread we are talking all about ANXIETY. We kicked this off with a great discussion during the Q&A at the end of the LIVE parent workshop on Friday and I know there was more to discuss!
Let us know in the comments what questions you have about supporting your child’s anxiety in the context of Autism, ADHD, giftedness and/or twice-exceptionality and, if you can, respond to someone else’s question with a strategy that has worked for you child. Let’s keep learning together!
Hi, I have an 8-year-old son in 3rd grade experiencing anxiety with pop quizzes. All his other grades are good and I believe it's due to advance notice regarding quizzes and assessments so he knows it's coming. Don't get me wrong he still has anxiety regarding school in general due to the increase pressure from 2nd to 3rd which we have used many tools suggested from you to ease anxiety; however, I'm at a lost with how to help when a pop quiz happens. Do you have any suggestions we can use?
Hi Veronica~I’m curious if the pop quizzes are necessary? Sometimes kids are experiencing such high levels of anxiety it’s not worth it so talking to his teacher about what they are observing would be my first idea. If it’s mild anxiety and something he’d like to conquer, sometime just knowing that he can come back to it later (if that’s allowed) helps reduce the anxiety of something being sprung on us and thinking right now is our only chance to show what we know.
Hi all, 11 year old with ASD1, ADHD, anxiety. Chews nails and toenails aggressively, then uses fake nails to hide nail trauma 😟 severe school anxiety causes her to frantically run around looking for her things for an hour the night before.
9 year old dyslexic child with anxiety is having troubles going to sleep
Is it possible? :( Severe life long anxiety with my 13 year old diagnosed GAD, ADHD, ASD. Tearing off nails. Picking skin (arms and chest). Picking skin off lips. Any coping strategies very welcome ❤️
Hi Christine. My autistic daughter had a similar problem with picking too. All behaviour is communication, so I looked to see what the behaviour could tell us - turned out it happened when the environment was overwhelming. So I talked the the teacher about having a sensory space, and at home we’d give her time with silence, lights out, etc. So that was dealing with the triggers, but we also needed to offer a replacement behaviour that was less impactful. We identified that picking gives a level of pain that’s strong enough to drown out the pain of her senses, so we have her a wire pressure ring, as you move it up and down the finger it kind of hurts, she’d also press it on her lips. She was motivated to stop the damage, so over time she got there. It still returns in particularly hard times, but we go through the steps again - empowering her to access sensory spaces, reminding her of the ring, etc. Good luck!
Hi, I have an 8-year-old son in 3rd grade experiencing anxiety with pop quizzes. All his other grades are good and I believe it's due to advance notice regarding quizzes and assessments so he knows it's coming. Don't get me wrong he still has anxiety regarding school in general due to the increase pressure from 2nd to 3rd which we have used many tools suggested from you to ease anxiety; however, I'm at a lost with how to help when a pop quiz happens. Do you have any suggestions we can use?
Hi Veronica~I’m curious if the pop quizzes are necessary? Sometimes kids are experiencing such high levels of anxiety it’s not worth it so talking to his teacher about what they are observing would be my first idea. If it’s mild anxiety and something he’d like to conquer, sometime just knowing that he can come back to it later (if that’s allowed) helps reduce the anxiety of something being sprung on us and thinking right now is our only chance to show what we know.
Hi all, 11 year old with ASD1, ADHD, anxiety. Chews nails and toenails aggressively, then uses fake nails to hide nail trauma 😟 severe school anxiety causes her to frantically run around looking for her things for an hour the night before.
9 year old dyslexic child with anxiety is having troubles going to sleep
Any ideas are welcome and appreciated! ❤️
Is it possible? :( Severe life long anxiety with my 13 year old diagnosed GAD, ADHD, ASD. Tearing off nails. Picking skin (arms and chest). Picking skin off lips. Any coping strategies very welcome ❤️
Hi Christine. My autistic daughter had a similar problem with picking too. All behaviour is communication, so I looked to see what the behaviour could tell us - turned out it happened when the environment was overwhelming. So I talked the the teacher about having a sensory space, and at home we’d give her time with silence, lights out, etc. So that was dealing with the triggers, but we also needed to offer a replacement behaviour that was less impactful. We identified that picking gives a level of pain that’s strong enough to drown out the pain of her senses, so we have her a wire pressure ring, as you move it up and down the finger it kind of hurts, she’d also press it on her lips. She was motivated to stop the damage, so over time she got there. It still returns in particularly hard times, but we go through the steps again - empowering her to access sensory spaces, reminding her of the ring, etc. Good luck!