What to do?

[Ria]

Hello, Can anyone give any advice? My 16 years old ds left residential school this summer. We didn't get funding for him to stay on and attend college,and he is now back home. He says he cannot face going to college, despite us looking at various ones.He wants to get a job, but I don't know if he would be too anxious for that too if it came down to it. He gained "C" grades in his GCSE'S, it's the social interaction that is the stumbling block.Do any of you know of any other options? What can ASD teenagers do if they can't access mainstream colleges? Apparently, you have to be 18 years old for any sort of supported employment. The danger is that he will end up never leaving the house, he was out of education for 2 and a half years in the past. Any ideas will be gratefully received, thank's.

[baddad]

Hi Ria -

I think a good starting point would be to point out to him the contradiction he's made - he can't face college, but feels he can face full time employment. He's not going to like that, but it has to be the starting point for any discussion, IMO. With that established, what kind of college courses have you been looking at? 'Skills for life' and 'skills for work' courses might offer a good compromise - non academic and 'physical' but not as challenging to jump into as an actual job. He might be able to do some work experience as part of the latter too - best of both worlds!

If he's adamant about not going to college, then maybe you could try to help him find some part time work or voluntary work to get his feet wet with. Depending how that went, you may be able to extend his hours or at the very least get a clearer indication if work is viable at the moment.

Your concerns about him not coping with work are natural, but it may be he has to find that out for himself? He might surprise you, especially if he feels he has something to prove or a point to make. Many young people completely mess up in their first jobs anyway, and while that's more problematic these days than it used to be i think it's still common enough for prospective employers to overlook the odd false start.

Does he have any plans work wise? If there's something specific he wants to do then work training or college stuff aligned to that is going to be more appealing than just 'general' work training or college.

 

Hope that's helpful

 

L&P

 

BD

[trekster]

Hello, Can anyone give any advice? My 16 years old ds left residential school this summer. We didn't get funding for him to stay on and attend college,and he is now back home. He says he cannot face going to college, despite us looking at various ones.He wants to get a job, but I don't know if he would be too anxious for that too if it came down to it. He gained "C" grades in his GCSE'S, it's the social interaction that is the stumbling block.Do any of you know of any other options? What can ASD teenagers do if they can't access mainstream colleges? Apparently, you have to be 18 years old for any sort of supported employment. The danger is that he will end up never leaving the house, he was out of education for 2 and a half years in the past. Any ideas will be gratefully received, thank's.

 

http://www.autism.org.uk/working-with/services-for-professionals/socialeyes.aspx

Was wondering if this social skills programme could help your son?

[charlotte]

you could get advice on appealing the funding desision.

contact the national autistic society and any local organisation in your area

[Paula]

Ria

 

My son 16 also left school a special school in June this year didnt want to attend college....he only got grade fs in his gcse and entry level 3 in certaine subjects.

 

 

I contacted my local mencap and theyve been brilliant...........they hooked us up with ideas on social groups for kids with learning difficulties which my son now attends one evening a week...they get together all play snooker,football alsorts of stuff he realy enjoys it and hes makeing freinds something hes never had outside of his school...........they alos ran a scheme called odd job.......basically theres a support worker and he works with 3 special needs kids at a time and they go out into the community and do all sorts of odd jobs such as gardening ,furniture removel ,you name it they do it..........my son doesnt get paide but hes doing something hes enjoying in a small group hes kept busy and hes learning skills........the centre the local mencap centre also has a cafe that the folks help run also......were hopeing that when other job oppurtunitys come up paide jobs then mencap will like they say be able to give a reference and our son will have gained some much needed confidence in a work enviorment.

 

There are all sorts of schemes out there but unfortunatley you have to search them out yourself and i found over the past 3 months that mencap for us was the best option.......i just telephoned up explained i had a son with aspergers and was wanting to know what was available in the form of work.voluntary oportunities and social groupsm where he could make freinds they were on the case immediatley and things were sorted within two weeks.

 

Do a search on the web also youll be surprised whats out there.

 

good luck and dont think theres nothing because there is ........

Edited September 17, 2010 by Paula

[call me jaded]

You obviously need the Connexions worker who CB told us about on the support group thread! lol

 

Have you tried to speak to them?

Edited September 17, 2010 by call me jaded

[Kazzen161]

I would suggest contacting Connexions. Round here there are various courses like E2E (entry to employment) that are aimed at young people with few qualifications. He could also try a Basic Skills course at college, as usually these are more 1:1 or small group and it would get him used to the college environment. Some colleges have courses particularly aimed a people with some sort of SEN, where they get much more support.

 

If he is interested in anything agricultural, those sort of colleges are often very good with children like ours. The environment is a lot quieter and more supportive.