From 2 years old Alfie showed a lot of frustration and social anxiety. His behaviour was becoming a daily issue. As a first time parent, I was unsure if this behaviour was a typical toddler tantrum or if there was more to it. I contacted my health visitor who did an assessment and said that Alfie scored more than double the standard points and explained he had sensory processing disorder. This is when our journey started and we were referred on the pathway.

Alfie is now 5 and a half years old and his behaviour has escalated worse every day. It became a battle & he became violent and uncontrollable. He resisted everyday demands, from asking him to do something to playing. He loved to dress up as superheroes and be someone other than himself. His impulsiveness became more frequent, but he masked this behaviour in his first year of school at reception. Once he started year 1, the school began to notice things and things became worse. Alfie was excluded at the age of 5 for attacking his teachers, he refused to go into school, his violence was so bad we ended up in A&E because he was harming himself. Finally after fighting with different professionals and waiting 18 months Alfie was diagnosed with pathological demand avoidance and high functioning autism.