Thread by @HollytheOT

Let’s talk about mental health services and #autistic children shall we? A 🧵1/9

Fact: #Autistic children are human, they have emotions, they experience pain, love, joy, anger, fear. HUMAN EMOTIONS. 2/9

Fact: #Autistic children have different #sensory and #communication experiences of the world than #neurotypical children. The world is set up for neurotypical people but autistic children will often try very hard to fit into the world around them. #Masking 3/9

Fact: Constantly attempting to fit into a neurotypical world has been proven to have severe mental health consequences for #autistic people. This can lead to severe #anxiety #depression #PTSD and #trauma symptoms. 4/9

Fact: Autistic children’s mental health difficulties present in the context of their autistic sensory sensitivities and communication needs. This means, for example, they may lose language when anxious, become hypersensitive to touch or noise. 5/9

Fact: Autistic children will not respond to neurotypical mental health talking treatments, unmodified CBT or anxiety management so stop trying to make them! If they don’t fit autistic communication or sensory needs, don’t use them. 6/9

Autistic children deserve just as much compassion & support when experiencing mental health distress as neurotypical children. They’re not “behavioural shells of humans” to be trained to behave better. Planned ignoring, reward based behavioural practices etc are traumatising. 7/9

Just because #autistic children’s mental health practice &research is currently rubbish, it doesn’t have to be like this. Be autism affirming. Be sensory aware. Understand autistic sensory-socio-communication as the genuine, authentic neurocultural difference that it is. 8/9

Finally: A call to #CAMHS and #child mental health practitioners. Please read this thread. Listen to autistic families. Use your creativity and compassion- ditch behaviourism and make autistic mental health therapies & resources that actually help our children. 9/9

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