Articles by John Sharry

My 23 year old daughter is angry at us for not getting autism diagnosis sooner

Parent Question:My daughter is 23 and doing her master’s in college. We had difficult teenage years with her, which involved extreme anxiety about school, self-harm (thankfully short-lived) and intense meltdowns. We attended CAMHS (HSE’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) a few times, but she did not like this. She was much happier in college, where … Continue reading My 23 year old daughter is angry at us for not getting autism diagnosis sooner

My daughter is anxious going in to college

Parent Question:We have a 17-year-old daughter who is diagnosed with autism and has an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP). She found mainstream secondary school too much, so eventually we were able to get her one-to-one support and she managed to get five GCSEs after not having attended school for three years. She is very bright and … Continue reading My daughter is anxious going in to college

My son seems very unhappy at university

QUESTION My 19-year-old son started university this year and he appears very unhappy there. He does not seem to be engaging well with the course material and may not be getting on particularly well with the class. He was much happier in school even during the Leaving Cert and has been happy and active in … Continue reading My son seems very unhappy at university