Ongoing CRIS projects: anxiety

ACECAT

(supporting autistic children, young people & their carers with anxiety)

Anxiety is a common problem for autistic children and young people[1] and those with  attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)¹, which are different forms of neurodiversity. However, it can be very challenging to identify and to manage. Challenges for managing anxiety in the autistic people and those with ADHD include:

1) the overlap between anxiety and core symptoms of their conditions (e.g. autism);

2) the diverse profile of shared and condition-specific anxiety compared to their typically developing peers;

3) difficulties in emotion recognition, regulation and expression that some autistic children and young people and those with ADHD may face;

4) the lack of professional support.

In a national survey, many autistic children and young people have expressed their frustration with not getting the right support and not “being treated seriously until at a crisis point”. As a first step to better understand  what has been done and what else can be done for better managing these anxiety problems, we will collect and analyse data to determine what interventions are currently offered to autistic children and young people, to those with ADHD, and to other neurodivergent young people, who have problems with anxiety,  and what the outcomes of these interventions are (if recorded).

[1] After consulting people with lived experience, this is a preferred term that they have advised us to use.