Published on 12, July, 2020
Has anyone had OT as an adult? Would it be a specialised form of OT for autistic adults and how might a person benefit?
I am trying to encourage my older son (26) to access this but, although he had initial advice from the Tuke Centre and was going to go ahead straight away, he's now feeling more uncertain, especially due to the costs involved. I think the NHS waiting list would be too long as he's already been having problems for quite a long time so I'm trying to reassure him on that score too. some personal experiences of the benefits (if any) might help.
Hi, I am a final year occupational therapy student, and I am very passionate about working with children and adults on the spectrum. As occupational therapists, our aim is to assist adults on the spectrum to achieve independent lifestyles, which includes independent living and participation in meaningful occupations, including employment. The breadth of occupational therapy services for adults is very wide, so how about you briefly describe your aims or your son's aims, in seeking occupational therapy services (e.g. for further education, employment, social training, etc.)? However, regarding the costs involved, I am unable to provide any advice as I am not from the States, so things may be different where I am. Hope this helps!
We are in the UK, just forced into the private sector due to excessive waiting lists and very much against our principles. My son's areas of difficulty include socialising (making friends plus coping with the interactions demanded of him in jobs and education), dealing with setbacks on courses and managing to complete them, accessing employment, motivation and coping with what he describes as "maladaptive daydreaming."
He has dropped out of his university course twice now and that was after a false start on an unsuitable course which also involved him waiting for another year to start the one he's on. This has also impacted us as a family, both emotionally and financially (the latter because, by the time he drops out of the course, we are already committed as guarantors for the accommodation he's in and, given that it's uni accommodation, if he were to move to benefits he'd be declassified as a student and thrown out (losing the few friends he has).
Our son was advised at the Tuke Centre and signposted to an OT service but I think, for himself, he probably wouldn't have sought it due to very low motivation amd a conviction that nobody understands. That said, he would probably be up for a social skills programme, advice on handling the requirements of his course and improving skills to enable him to remain in a job (so far he's had several low skilled jobs in shops/hotels which haven't lasted very long as he finds them depressing, demainding of skills he can't easily muster and he can't cope or understand why anyone would want to stay in such a job).
Hi Jenny I used to be a Lecturer in Further and Higher education so I just wondered what help and support the college or University your son is at are offering him? Most have a proactive employment and careers service, working alongside student support, given the impact of employability on outcome measurements and league tables.
One of the best ways of developing the skills to maintain employment is to complete volunteering, work placements or work-related activity, with appropriate preparation, guidance and support. Students' Unions usually have good employability and volunteering schemes too and their Welfare Officers are often very helpful.
Unfortunately they've not offered anything, although I have to say that this is in large part because our son hasn't communicated at all well with them or sought out help at the earliest opportunity. That is, of course, part of the problem relating to social interaction and forward planning. I am thinking that some of this has to do with systems that are set up to allow for illness and disability that is simply corroborated by a GP, without any massive wait for a referral and without any difficulties in presenting a case and asking for help (I am reminded of that time in my own youth when I suffered dreadfully with anxiety but was unfortunately far to anxious to go to the doctor's about it!).
He's undiagnosed but I am autistic (only diagnosed last month) and his brother was discharged from the early intervention service a couple of years agao on the basis that he probably has Asperger's and not a mental illness. So we've been using autism as a lens through which to understand our difficulties but not had any definite diagnosis with which to flag up needs and seek specific help.
This has resulted in our son simply reaching overload point then not turning up for an exam, at which point they refused to let him back on the course. We appealed and, citing all the difficulties related to probable autism, he eventually won but then only passed 2 out the the 3 exams he needed to pass to get on to the final year. So now he has to wait another year to resit, already in student accommodation for which we still need to pay. Nothing is being offered in the meantime but, with no firm diagnosis and rules being rules, I'm not sure what they can do. Their stance is, of course, that they have to be fair to the other students (who in his eyes are all getting along swimmingly, partying with their mates and sailing through effortlessly). :(
He's done some volunteering but now wants and needs paid work - the costs of all of this are escalating as. each time he fails to get on to the next year of a a course, we are already committed to various expenses but student finance drops out.
I hope he'll approach the student union and the welfare officer but he doesn't find such things very easy.