The mother of an autistic child who has suicidal thoughts says she is still struggling to get support after four years of tests and waiting lists.

The mother, who did not wish to be named to avoid identifying her son, nine, says he started talking about wanting to take his own life at the age of five and has continued to do so ever since.

However, she says she has been unable to get the support she needs from the available organisations.

Read more: 

Gardener found guilty of trying to extort thousands out of elderly woman

Dozens of Asda trolleys found stolen following KSI and Logan Paul visit

Watford mum fears for 'suicidal' son after teen climbs crane

She said: “I don’t know what to do, imagine hearing your five-year-old saying they want to kill themselves.

“My son started having suicidal thoughts when he was 5 so we went to child and adolescent mental health services (CAHMS), they had one appointment and because he did not say he wanted to kill himself at that moment they discharged us.

“Since then, it has been four years looking for support.”

The family have been persistent in trying to reach support but have been unable to get any long-term help.

“They said we needed to wait until we got a diagnosis, but when we did, they still wouldn’t help.

“When he was six, we tried to contact PALMS (positive behaviour, autism, learning disability and mental health service), who deal with neurodivergent children.

“It took about seven attempts to get on the waiting list it was because he was waiting for a diagnosis, but he kept talking about killing himself, so we kept going back."

Support from groups like CAHMS and PALMS is supposed to help parents as well as their children.

The mother said: “From what I understand they will train me to know how to respond rather than directly helping him.

“I do need the support since I don’t know how to respond when it happens.

“It’s hard and its scary.”

The family are currently receiving some support from Not Fine in School, a parent and carer-led organisation set up to help children and young people who struggle with school attendance.

She added “I want him to be listened to by someone, he’s not being listened to properly.”

“Because we are waiting for help, we have been talking with ‘Not Fine in School’ who have a good group for support.“

If you feel affected by what has happened and wish to find support, you can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 from the phone for a confidential chat or email jo@samaritans.org.