Carrie Grant says years on suicide watch for autistic child left her 'changed forever'

Mixed · 2Television presenter and vocal coach Carrie Grant, 61, said on Holly Willoughby's YouTube show, Together, on Monday 5 October that she has been 'changed forever' by being on suicide watch for her autistic child. 1 2 Right · 1The child, Tylan, is 24, non-binary, and has Asperger's and dyscalculia, a learning disability affecting the use of number-related concepts. The Daily Mail says Tylan was on suicide watch between the ages of 13 and 16 after struggling at school. 1 Mixed · 2Grant said she will never be the same person she was before that experience, and that some of the change was for the better and 'some of it's probably not'. 1 2

Mixed · 2She said parents in autism families often live in a 'hypervigilant space' and 'have complex PTSD because of these situations', and that three years was 'a long time to be living in fear'. She said it is now 'a joy to see that child thriving'. 2 1 Mixed · 2Grant said things 'got progressively worse' at secondary school, where 'no one was listening' while the family tried to obtain an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). She said her child 'was massively self-harming and ended up in hospital, not wanting to live'. 1 2 Mixed · 2She said she had an email, sent to her in error, in which the head of an unnamed school told the school's special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) they did not have to answer her emails and suggested they 'stand well back and watch the fireworks go off'. The Mirror describes this as an allegation; the school was not named and its account was not reported. 1 2

Mixed · 2Describing daily life during that period, Grant said she would look at the ceiling and then check whether Tylan's duvet was 'going up and down' when she opened their bedroom door, recalling 'We got them through a night.' She said 'some children don't make it through', and that parents become angry with services that 'haven't shown up' when asked for help. 1 2 Mixed · 2Tylan's life improved when they won the role of Phoenix Hathaway, a non-binary autistic character, in Channel 4's Hollyoaks, which they played from 2018 to 2024. Grant said Tylan was met by a casting crew that had all been autism trained, adding that a lighting rigger there had had more autism training than any teacher who had taught her children. 1 2 Mixed · 2Grant and her husband David Grant, 70, have four children, all with neurodivergent diagnoses. Both outlets include Samaritans contact details (116 123). 1 2