Hi @Bexta36,    I want to start by thanking you for your post and welcoming you to the forums :) I want you to know that this is a safe place to share your journey and that the whole community is here to support you.    I want to acknowledge and commend you on your strength and resilience. From what I have read, I can see that your family means the world to you, and you care so deeply for them, it's so incredible and beautiful to see. I want you to be proud of the steps you've taken so far, as well as the step of coming online and seeking support, it can be a really challenging thing to do, especially when a loved one is involved. I'm sure many other community members can agree when I say you are not alone in your feelings and care for your family.    I am curious to know if you've had the chance to contact your son's school and communicate with them about his behaviour or whether your son has spoken to anyone else about what's been going on in his life?   From what I have read, I can see that your dedication to your son and his well-being is a top priority to you, and I want you to be so proud of yourself for this dedication and understanding of what he might be going through, as well as trusting him through the process and keeping open communication around where he is and what he is doing.    I can imagine, however, how draining and exhausting this must be for you, and that's ok - you're only human and it's ok to feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now.   While your son's well-being is very important, you can neglect your own. I'm wondering if you have any or considered any self-care practices that help you in times of stress and uncertainty?    I'm also wondering if you have any or have been able to reach out to any support, this could be friends, family - or professionals such as a counsellor or GP.    Thank you for sharing your journey with us and I look forward to hearing how it progressing, please look out for an email we'll be sending you    Hope to hear from you soon :) ... View more

Hi Shaberlu, I want to start by thanking you for your post and welcome you to the online community forums :) It's amazing that you've been able to find this safe place i want you to know that the whole community is here to support you.  From what I have read I can see that you care so deeply for your son, it's beautiful to see and I want you to be so proud of yourself for not only caring so deeply but for also putting in the steps towards your family's well-being.  I'm wondering if you've been able to communicate with both your son and his father and how that communication has gone.  I'm also wondering if you've been able to communicate with your son's school to see if they have any support to help him feel more comfortable within a school environment.  I'm wondering if you feel comfortable sharing a bit more about what your son's aggressive outbursts may look like.   I want to provide you with a link to a couple of pages ReachOut has on both Family Relationships and Teenagers and School Refusal and Teenagers.  While your child's well-being is very important, your own well-being is the most important thing and I'm wondering if you have anything you like to do when you feel overwhelmed or unsure that helps you feel better.  I'm wondering what support might look like for you too this could be friends, family, or even professionals such as a GP or counsellor and if your son has any other support too.  I want you to be very proud of yourself for how far you've come and for the care you've shown your son. I also want you to know that it's ok to feel lost and like the world is on your shoulders right now, you are only human and so is your son and these things can take time :)  I hope to hear from you soon.  ... View more

Hey @dad-of-4-nd , I want to start by thanking you for this post, it can be a very challenging thing to do especially when posting about family. You should be so proud of yourself and i can see that you care so deeply for the well-being of your family, it’s so amazing to see :) From what i can see, you have disclosed that your daughters have been diagnosed with Autism and Delayed speech, Im wondering if you have reached out for professional support around this, if so I'm wondering if they might have some insight into how you can be supported on this journey? I also wanted to provide you with a link to The Raising children's Network who might be able to provide further support and advice on this current experience. Again i want to thank you for your post you should be very proud of the care you’ve shown and the steps you’re putting in place for yourself as well as your family. :)  ... View more

Hi @09Mum,    I want to start by thanking you for your response 🙂 It can be a very challenging thing to share your story and experiences online and i want you to know how proud of yourself you should be.    From what i have read, i can see that your daughter’s well-being means the world to you and thats so beautiful to see. I want to commend you on taking the steps towards supporting your family, you have shown so much care and compassion for your child and its so amazing to read.    While supporting your family is very important, it’s also extremely important to remember to prioritize yourself when feeling overwhelmed and drained, it’s ok 🙂   I want you to also keep an eye our for an email we are sending you, and i want to know that you can always reach out for support whenever you need, the community is here for you.    Hope to hear from you soon.  ... View more

Hi @Colour, I wanted to start off by saying thank you for your post and welcome to the forums! Reaching out for support isn’t always the easiest thing to do and I want to commend you on taking this time to seek support, the whole community is here for you 😊 I’m wondering if you would feel comfortable sharing a little bit more about you’re current situation and what might be happening for you? Hope to hear from you soon. ... View more

Hi Reginald,   I want to start by saying welcome to the forums! It’s amazing to have you reach out to us I can see that you care so deeply for your family and it’s so amazing of course you’re welcome here :)   It's a real treat to see how you write about your granddaughter and your family, and I wanted to commend you on taking the time to research and find ways to support both your daughter and your granddaughter It is inspiring.   In terms of your granddaughter, I’d like to offer some resources we have on bullying. Bullying is something no person should ever have to go through and no one should ever have to go through it alone either, we have an article on how to cope with bullying as well as an article on how to get help when being bullied and most importantly how to look after yourself. Please let me know if any of these were helpful :)   The Youth Online Community is also an amazing place for young people to come and share experiences, gain insight, or even just communicate with other young people I thought maybe your granddaughter might be interested in checking it out.   You’ve spoken a lot about your family and how much you care about them and as amazing as that is, I’m curious to know how you're feeling. Do you have any self-care practices and what may those look like for you? This could be spending time with family, or time to yourself, anything you do when things are getting hard.   All the best :)   ... View more

Hi @mmjmmj,   Thank you for sharing your journey with us. From what I've read I can see that this has been a very challenging time for you. You should be very proud of yourself for the progress you have made and the dedication you’ve shown for your child.    These systems aren't always the easiest to work around and don't always make much sense, the steps you've taken however towards working through them are incredible you’ve shown much resilience and it’s not always easy to find that in ourselves. It's amazing to see.    While maintaining the support of your children can feel as it is always top priority it is important to remember that our own wellbeing is just as important.    I was wondering if you have any self care techniques you like to practice - this can come in many different forms, something that makes us feel good and helps us rest and regather.    I was also wondering if there was any other support you might be able to reach out to either friends or family or even professionals such as a counselor or psychologist. These things can also contribute to self care    I also wanted to let you know that we have edited out some identifying information about the services you have been accessing to align with our Community Guidelines.   Again i just want to say thank you for sharing your story, you should be very proud of how far you’ve come 🙂   and please don't be afraid to reach out    All the best.  ... View more

Hi T2008,   How are you doing today,   Thank you for replying it’s really amazing to see how dedicated you are to finding support with this current experience you’re facing, you should be very proud of the steps you have already put in place and it’s inspiring to hear how far you’ve come over the years I wanted to commend you on your strength.   Have you thought about engaging with any professional support for yourself? It sounds like this issue is having a massive effect on you and having that professional support by your side would be beneficial to both you and your children. I also wanted to ask if you had any friends or family, you could reach out to.   I just wanted to commend you again on your strength, you can see that you really care for your kids, and I bet they are incredibly grateful for the parent they have. Make sure you are allocating time for yourself as your own wellbeing is the most beneficial thing for both you and your kids.   If you think you could use some extra support, here are some services you could consider: centre for excellence in child and family welfare relationship-loss griefline   Please don’t be afraid to reach out to both the community and the ReachOut team with any support or resources you may need. :)   Look forward to hearing from you. ... View more

Hi AngelMum3   Thank you for finding the time to reach out to us for support, I just want to start by commending the strength it takes to post on this forum, you should be very proud of the mother you are as you seem to care a lot about your son and his wellbeing.   I was just wondering if you felt comfortable sharing what has been happening for you and your son lately, and why you have you been feeling this way? Additionally, I just wanted to ask about what supports are in place currently for both you and your son and what they may look like, whether it be friends or family or even what professional support you may have such as a counsellor (either at school for your son or just an external counsellor for yourself).   I also wanted to acknowledge how proud you should be for the steps you’ve put in place already. While all the support for your child is amazing you should also make sure you are allocating time for yourself as your own wellbeing and care is just as important and beneficial to you and your son.   We understand from your latest response that you child is not currently a teenager, and while our services are for parents/careers supporting teens, we are still here to support you with any resources and support you may need.   Please know you are welcome to reach out to us on the forums whenever you need, and we look forward to hearing from you soon. :) ... View more

Hi Helplessmama,   It’s really good to hear that the school has been supportive with your child’s needs as well as their willingness to help out, and it would be great to hear how that continues.   Your dedication in finding time to do personal research on alternative education options is really positive and it’s wonderful to see that you have found some options, I wish you the best of luck in hearing back from them. Remember to also allocate time for yourself too, as your own wellbeing and care is just as important to you and your son.   I also just want to commend you on the steps you have put in place for your child, you can really tell just how much you care for him and his wellbeing.   If there is any additional resources or support you need, please don’t be afraid to reach out to supportive friends or family, as well as talking to a professional if needed.   Please know you are welcome to reach out to us on the forums whenever you need.   All the best from the Reachout team. ... View more