Can't keep it together

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So in the past, I've been able to function reasonably well at school, making it through each day. And at home, I would just breakdown. Cry, mope, relax that sort of stuff. Now, everything just feels like its building up and it isn't sustainable. I just can't keep it together for much longer. I've already come close to breaking down and having a meltdown in school, and I don't know what to do.

Maybe it'll help to talk to a doc &/or psych about it. Perhaps counseling &/or meds could help you cope & deal with things better.

If you were able to function before but are struggling now, what has changed? If you can identify why you're more stressed out now than you were before, you might be able to address this issue before you have a meltdown.

Are you presently receiving therapy? I agree with Nick that you should seek help. If you are not currently seeing a therapist, you should consider approaching the school counselor.

Are your instructors aware of your situation? Do you have a prearranged signal and a safe place to go if you are on the verge of a melt down?

I used to have a student who had anger management issues and we had a prearranged signal that would allow him to leave the class to go to a safe room if he ever felt like he was about to lose it. There was a room adjacent to the counselor's office that was his designated safe spot. The student would approach me and ask if I had written the note for the counselor. I had a pre-written hall pass in my desk and all I had to do was to pull it out and give it to him. He would then be able to leave without any embarrassing drama and I would then get on my school email to contact the counselor and our building administration so they could do a follow up safety check on him just to make sure that he was okay.

Not receiving therapy, issue is probably a mix of increased stress from schoolwork and increased stress from home because my family is having problems with money and we have to find a new place to live.

I’m not even sure if my teachers know I’m autistic. I’m in mainstream school but the principal knows and I’m not sure if the teachers were told

I am sorry for your problems. Students shouldn't have to go through this experience. I teach in an impoverished rural area and I'm sorry to say that we have homeless students. I have one girl who lives in a van. I have other students who are make a circuit with relatives and friends.

It's hard to expect students to focus on their work if they're hungry or worried about where they're going to spend the night.

This school I'm at is the first school I've ever been at that has a food bank. At the end of each week, students from poor families are given back packs filled with food to take home. We also have clean clothing in varying sizes, hygiene products, shoes, and socks.

Our school even has a social worker who will work with families to apply for subsidized housing or various benefits.



Your school should have a counselor. Have you talked to the counselor about how stressed out you are?

Are you in the special ed program? If so, you should have an IEP, Individual Education Plan, which specifies your accommodations. An accommodation that might be good for you would be for you to have a safe place you may go when you feel that you're about to have a melt down. This accommodation would include having a secret signal that you could give the teacher so that you're not written up for leaving class without permission.

If you are not a special ed student, you might consider becoming one because of the benefits you'll receive. With more and more students being diagnosed with autism, many schools now have autistic teachers who are trained to work with autistic students.

You may still be mainstreamed as a student ... but it might help you to have a teacher you may turn to when you're getting really stressed out.

Hang in there! The school year is nearly over.