We have a lovely child who is very motivated in their schoolwork. They are getting straight A's, and are loved by all their teachers. They are autistic, and it seems that schoolwork is their new 'special interest'. It doesn't seem like a problem, until you look at the child themselves. We often have to remind them to eat, go to the bathroom, or sleep, because they are constantly doing homework. If we tell them to take a break, they panic because they don't want to ruin their grades. We can barely get them in the shower. Not to mention they get next to no sunlight or exercise.
I recently sat down and asked them why they were so worried, and it was summed up that they want to have exceptional grades because of "all the things wrong with them". They are transgender, openly gay, and autistic, and they are worried that no one will ever hire them because of these things. They refuse rewards, literally sobbing if we buy them a little gift as a "good job!" sort of thing. They are in counseling, but I'm still so worried. How can we help them?