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Managing self-harm and social anxiety in autistic teens

🌱 parentingboth problemSingle report ●●●●● severity 4/5

A parent of an autistic 15-year-old son reports that their child is experiencing severe social anxiety and has begun engaging in self-harm behaviors, specifically hair pulling and hand biting, when stressed.

Who's affected: A parent of an autistic 15-year-old son

⚠️ Single report. This is one person's account. We mark it so until more voices confirm it.

What people do today

🔧 Fix this

Ideas a builder, maker or community group could start on:

  1. A curated directory of sensory-friendly, non-verbal communication tools and stress-regulation aids for autistic teens.
  2. A peer-support platform connecting parents of neurodivergent children to share evidence-based strategies for managing self-injurious behaviors.
  3. A mobile app that helps teens track stress triggers and provides immediate, non-harmful sensory grounding exercises.
I want to build this

Real voices

“if someone brings up something that causes his stress, he has started to pull his hair and biting his hand.”

Source: Stack Exchange (parenting) · CC BY-SA 4.0, user-contributed content from Stack Exchange; summarized and modified

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