Looking for Support for Young Adults with Autism

Yes, I printed off the leaflet last night so I could have a better look to see if there is anything that could help me and my parents. At the moment I have found something that could help with a future career in animals. It is difficult trying to find help, but I am so glad that I decided to create a post to ask for help. Thanks again for that link, it has helped :) I will keep in mind with NAS advice line and see if they can help if i am still struggling. In the meantime, I will keep in mind all these responses I get from people in the forums x

Hi, thank you for replying to my post. And thank you for welcoming me into the forum. I understand that having a follow up isn't unusual, it's just difficult for some people to know what to do next. I think that they just think that adults can look after themselves so they just concentrate on children. I am very glad I have joined the forum too, having people comment on my post is really helping me know that I'm not the only one who is struggling after a diagnoses. I understand there struggle in trying to go through so many assessments and not being able to support people they have diagnosed. That's why i think the government should do more to help. 

I hope you find the support too, this is a fantastic place and I am really enjoying seeing people respond to my post x

Hi, thank you for replying to my post. Me and my parents were surprised at how nothing happens after you get diagnosed. They seen to just concentrate on children and think that adults can look after themselves. 

Thank you, I just really would like to understand on more of what I am going through and if there is anymore support for young adults. But hopefully through this post that I will get some idea on what to do next x

Thank you for replying to my post. Yes it is easy to get suck into negatives especially when every time you try something all the doors close in your face. I know there is always room for improvement but I just hope that one day I will get some positives out of it.

Well I would like to...
- Make friends who really understand me and actually want to be my friend and not use me.
- Find a way to start a career with animals
- I am good at creative things like drawing, diamond painting, colouring.
- I struggle with money and understanding mostly adult things.

Thank you for your advice I will keep this in mind, maybe this could help me :) x

I’m glad it’s helpful. As the other contributors have mentioned, support after diagnosis is commonly poor. I totally understand the difficulties your facing and hopefully you’ll be able to find some support locally. If your still struggling, it’s worth calling the NAS advice line.

> what I could do next

It's easy to get sucked into negatives but I prefer to try and think of things as being like a card game - you can't change the hand you're dealt, but you can try and play it the best you can.  You might not always win but I think there's some satisfaction in trying to do as well as you possibly could.  Potentially there's always room for improvement.

So what sorts of things would you like to do next?  What things interest you or are you good at?  What things do you currently struggle with that you'd like to get better at?  Pick a few of those things that you think are most important / would help you the most and try and break them down into small steps.  As you get improvements on some things then you can start to work on other things.  Just remember the cliches "Rome wasn't built in a day" and "Life is a marathon not a sprint."  As long as you're slowly moving forwards you're doing OK.

Once you have some ideas, ask if people have any suggestions / advice on how you might break those things down into small steps and move them forward.

Welcome to the forum, Amy.

As the previous poster said, getting no post-diagnosis follow up isn't unusual, sadly. I just got given a leaflet about the NAS and was advised to join the forum (which I'm very glad I did!). There was supposed to have been post-diagnosis counselling and occupational therapy, but neither have happened after four years. But, to be fair to them, the local autism unit is run by only two part-time clinical staff, and their back-log for assessments is getting on for two years (I know someone currently on the waiting list.)

I hope you find the support you're looking for. In the meantime, this is a fantastic place for getting better understanding; I hope you find it as rewarding as I have.

I don't think they threw you to the side they're just very busy. I was diagnosed this year myself aged 27 and it is surprising how basically nothing happens afterward.

From reading your post it sounds like you have a really positive mindset the way you recognise your situation and reaching out for help so keep it up.  

Hi, thank you for replying to my post and welcoming me into the community. I have looked at the leaflet and it is interesting I will have a look soon. I just hope I can find some sort of help that would help both me and my parents in this new diagnoses. It's all new to me, I just wished that the women we spoke to too just helped us more than throwing us to the side once she was done with us. But thank you for the link to the leaflet x

Hello, welcome to the community! I totally understand the difficulties in finding local support and it’s no surprise that information can be hard to find (support services can be fractured and delivered by different organisations). I’ve found the following leaflet for post diagnosis in your area (I think), have a look and see what you think: http://www.cwp.nhs.uk/media/3491/asd-post-diagnosis-information-a-asdpdi-17-752.pdf 

Is this helpful?

I have been looking myself and I too have used those key words. The problem is with travel it's difficult for us as we don't have the money to travel far distances. It's also a struggle trying to figure out bus and train routes to the places. 

My mum has spoken to someone from another autistic website (or it maybe this one) talking about going into a small group of autistic adults and for ten weeks we go bowling etc once a week. I was thinking of doing this, but at the moment we are fighting for PIP because once we told them that I am now Autistic they stopped my money. With all that in my mind I didn't want to start doing something like that when I am waiting for a reply back from the tribunal for my court date. 

I have looked at that link and I think the closest we could go to would be Chester, because everywhere else is too far for us. 

Not really, we got told on the day that I am Autistic. Then we waited for the letter, read it over and then made some changes and then went back to her. She gave us leaflets and a Autism wallet and that was it. Every time we try somewhere they either just do children, or there is nothing they can do for me. It's been a struggle and since January we have been battling PIP so it's been difficult x

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the Wirral area myself, but there are some things came up when I googled using the key words "wirral adult autism" and "wirral adult autism social group"

There's the Wirral Centre for Autism at Oak House: http://www.autismtogether.co.uk/

Maybe you could also consider looking at some other places in North West England as well? You might be able to travel there by train, coach, or bus?

Here is a list of NAS branches in North West England, which might be more reasonable for you to travel to: https://www.autism.org.uk/services/local/england/north-west.aspx 

By the way, when you got your diagnosis, did the assessment clinic offer any suggestions for where you can go afterwards for support?

You could try calling the NAS helpline to ask if they might have any more information about adult social groups in Wirral. 

Hi, thank you for replying to my post. I live in the Wirral area. I don't drive and neither does my parents. I have just looked at the link you put in your reply, and all the support groups are either in London, Manchester or places that are too far for me to travel. I am looking for support near me, and ways that could help with my Autism. I stay in 24/7 unless I need to go out, but if I do go out my mum comes with me every time. I have no friends, I don't work (atm) I am just struggling to find support for young adults with autism x

What part of the UK do you live in? The NAS has various branches in different locations. You might be able to join an adult social club?

www.autism.org.uk/.../group.aspx