Education after 18

This is a pretty complex subject to try to give a concise answer to so I'll start by giving you some references to books that I think may help:

Aspects of Asperger's - Success in the Teens and Twenties - Maude Brown, Alex Miller (2004)
ISBN 1904315127

Developing College Skills in Students With Autism and Asperger's Syndrome - Sarita Freedman (2010)
ISBN 9781843109174

Asperger Syndrome and Employment - What People With Asperger Syndrome Really Really Want - Sarah Hendrickx (2008)
ISBN 9781843106777

On the subject of his attendance, have you worked out why he is skipping so much? If this can be addressed then there is a chance the success of completing the year may motivate him to go further.

Does he have a therapist? They should be able to give him the tools to be able to address these issues or at least communicate to you why he cannot / will not do what is required to complete the year.

If he runs out of time to stay in education then he will probably just end up needing to get a job on a supermarket till, serving coffee or (more likely) will mope about at home playing games and complaining about how unfair life is - like many teenagers LOL.

If he is autistic then there is a good chance he will understand a reasoned arguement rather than a nebulous "you'll never amount to anything" approach - lay out what the paths are in front and what it will look like if he drops out.

If he drops out, make clear that he will have to pay a significant chunk of his income (salary or benefits) to pay for his upkeep. This is a good time to educate him on the cost of rent, utility bills, cleaning/cooking costs, food costs etc since he will have to deal with this if he ever leaves home.

If he stays in education then you can subsidise him and he can have a much more comfortable standard of living and probably be able to get a better paying job at the end.

These are difficult times for your son (been there myself) and there is going to be a mix of:

1. hormones, social pressures and a strong desire to be part of the pack, but lacking the social clue to do this well.
2. struggling with fitting in and a feeling that everyone else seems to "get it" but he doesn't
3. on the slippery slope to failure having had so many ansences and thinking "it's not worth it"
4. with the prospects of a poorly paid job ahead at best he is probably feeling the future is bleak
5. all the usual teenage issues of rebellion and wanting to do his own thing.

There is nothing you can really do about 1, 2 and 5 other than be there if he wants to talk. If he has a therapist then they should be helping with these.

3 can be addressed by working out exactly what he needs to do to back off that cliff - this may involve speaking to the school and seeing if he can get any leaway for his autism.

4 will involve explaining to him with some notes for him to look at later on - breaking down the things that need to be paid for before he can even consider buying himself any treats should be a shock enough to make him reconsider.

Good luck with it all - I was able to get back on track after the talk with my parents and ended up literally graduating as a rocket scientist at uni (well a BSc in Applied Physics) - something my autism was fortunately really good for.

This is a pretty complex subject to try to give a concise answer to so I'll start by giving you some references to books that I think may help:

Aspects of Asperger's - Success in the Teens and Twenties - Maude Brown, Alex Miller (2004)
ISBN 1904315127

Developing College Skills in Students With Autism and Asperger's Syndrome - Sarita Freedman (2010)
ISBN 9781843109174

Asperger Syndrome and Employment - What People With Asperger Syndrome Really Really Want - Sarah Hendrickx (2008)
ISBN 9781843106777

On the subject of his attendance, have you worked out why he is skipping so much? If this can be addressed then there is a chance the success of completing the year may motivate him to go further.

Does he have a therapist? They should be able to give him the tools to be able to address these issues or at least communicate to you why he cannot / will not do what is required to complete the year.

If he runs out of time to stay in education then he will probably just end up needing to get a job on a supermarket till, serving coffee or (more likely) will mope about at home playing games and complaining about how unfair life is - like many teenagers LOL.

If he is autistic then there is a good chance he will understand a reasoned arguement rather than a nebulous "you'll never amount to anything" approach - lay out what the paths are in front and what it will look like if he drops out.

If he drops out, make clear that he will have to pay a significant chunk of his income (salary or benefits) to pay for his upkeep. This is a good time to educate him on the cost of rent, utility bills, cleaning/cooking costs, food costs etc since he will have to deal with this if he ever leaves home.

If he stays in education then you can subsidise him and he can have a much more comfortable standard of living and probably be able to get a better paying job at the end.

These are difficult times for your son (been there myself) and there is going to be a mix of:

1. hormones, social pressures and a strong desire to be part of the pack, but lacking the social clue to do this well.
2. struggling with fitting in and a feeling that everyone else seems to "get it" but he doesn't
3. on the slippery slope to failure having had so many ansences and thinking "it's not worth it"
4. with the prospects of a poorly paid job ahead at best he is probably feeling the future is bleak
5. all the usual teenage issues of rebellion and wanting to do his own thing.

There is nothing you can really do about 1, 2 and 5 other than be there if he wants to talk. If he has a therapist then they should be helping with these.

3 can be addressed by working out exactly what he needs to do to back off that cliff - this may involve speaking to the school and seeing if he can get any leaway for his autism.

4 will involve explaining to him with some notes for him to look at later on - breaking down the things that need to be paid for before he can even consider buying himself any treats should be a shock enough to make him reconsider.

Good luck with it all - I was able to get back on track after the talk with my parents and ended up literally graduating as a rocket scientist at uni (well a BSc in Applied Physics) - something my autism was fortunately really good for.

Thank you so much for taking the time to give a really detailed response.  Lots to think about/work through.