Preparing your autistic child for entering the workforce

[@Christine-j7n]

I’m having a hard time getting a diagnosis for my 18 year old daughter. I hear and read that girls on the spectrum are often missed and misdiagnosed . We’ve had her tested before due to school refusal , sensory issues, agoraphobia , anxiety , depression and insomnia . She feels she’s autistic and was even discouraged that the results came back saying she was too intelligent to be autistic. She said they’re wrong and now with all the reading I’ve done and all the myths I myself even had about autism busted I feel she very well might have it . She has stemming behaviors that she hid for years that she only allowed me to see once she knew I understood and wouldn’t tell her to stop stemming like her teachers did . I’ve been homeschooling her since middle school but now I’m very worried about how she will hold down a job with her anxiety the way it is . often she refuses or can’t ( as she puts it) make herself do what she needs and even wants to do. If pushed she will go into meltdown mode which for her is simply being mute ( she says she can’t talk ) and being unresponsive. She’s never let her frustration out towards others but I do see that she’s very easily agitated in these states …. Understandably . She’s a sweet wonderful person who is coping as best she can and I just wish we had more support for her . Her recheck for autism and ADD is set for September of this year 2023. If they still say she’s not autistic can we still get her into programs like this ? I really feel they would help her greatly .