Son has been dismissed - do we have any case?

NAS15840 said:

Without a formal diagnosis I think you'll unfortunately find it very hard, and even with one the constant lateness means that they are well within their rights. You'll almost certainly find that he's in a probationary period which means there are no rights in the first place.

It's a two year minimum to go to an employment tribunal these days.

Thanks for those comments - esp ClaireHig - you have been through a lot.

My overall feeling is that we're relying on them giving him a second chance but to be fair to them, as employers they didn't know he might have problems so could not have been expected to accomodate him. He had been given numerous chances to change and if he had shared his problems with us [esp me, as I work for the same company] we might have been able to step in much earlier and prevent it. Great with 20/20 hindsight as always. We will be making an appoitntment to see the GP tomorrow so hopefully they will set things in train for us to pursue a diagnosis for future employers.

It's also partly us denying that there was still a problem and it's been a real wake-up call for us as parents and for him, realising he really might be autistic.

He is realistic and actually doesn't seem to understand why we are concerned about getting him a diagnosis. His response when we asked if he wanted to go for a diagnosis was along the lines of "If I'm autistic, I'm autistic and a diagnosis will help me from now on, so why not!". Maybe he's more realistic than we gave him credit for!

You could try the local Citizens Advice Bureu to you and find out if there is anything that can be done.  From what you are saying, it seems like they were trying to help him with the start time.  But he couldn't do it. 

Give them a ring or find out where they are and tomorrow contact them. You may not get a direct answer to the solution tomorrow becasue CAB's are volunteer manned and it depends on how they operate things. (I get frustrated with mine because the receptionist doesnt understand the full question and was given a leaflet to ring the number or go on line. Which neither helped my question at that time) but they can be very helpful.

Second step. Make an appointment with the GP and start the process to getting a formal diagnosis. Now he an employable age, if he has a formal diagnosis various doors can open for him. He then can get Personal Independence Payments and if he gets High Rate Component other doors open for him on that.

There is real help out there and some experiences are good and some have bad experiences but it is out there.  But I would strongly recommend obtaining a formal diagnosis. It takes time but worth it in the end.

Has he an employment support coach?  You can go with him. That was my question to CAB and they couldn't help but other people have including my work coach. He don't have to see them alone and even a parent could go with him and work out the next step and whether he has a case. Actually I find my work coach very good and will try to not just sign post me to CAB but deal with the questions herself.

Good luck

Sadly, without a formal diagnosis I doubt there is much you can do.

ftm42 said:

I'm Mum to a 19 year old, who we know has issues. He has never had a 'formal diagnosis' but has had interventions from various school support and treated as if he had aspergers whilst in school. We had asked for support in college but never got it and he struggled through.

He started a f-t apprenticeship but has recently been dismissed [after only 6 weeks] as he just couldn't get himself in for their start time, so ended up very behind on hours. Despite their best endeavours, he couldn't manage to get in on time and has now been fired. To be fair, he did not disclose that he had Aspergers as we naievly believed he was OK and had 'grown out of it' so didn't advise him to disclose. He doesn't seem to fully comprehend what has happened.

Without going into the legalities, has anyone experienced this and how do we manage it going forward? We will be pursuing a formal diagnosis as we think it could help him but he really wants his job back as he enjoyed it and was perfectly capable of doing the job.

Sorry I can only give you my own experience. I wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's until 31.

I did an apprenticeship at 16-18 years old. But I was only doing it to please my mother. As she said I must be in education or work. I knew I couldn't manage real work, so I went with training instead. I was always late, but they were a community industry who were invested in supporting those with problems.

Although I had no diagnosis, it was obvious I was 'shy' & not 'normal'. Almost everyone there had issues ranging from being deaf to those with English as a second language. But the allowance they paid (same rate as JSA) was still reduced for being late or failing to go. Persistent lateness or failure to attend still resulted in removal from the apprenticeship, no matter what the excuse. If you couldn't get in, your place was given to someone else. As places were very sought after.

I hated going & even got a job to get away. Obviously I couldn't do the job either, so I had to leave it for another job. But I couldn't do that & had to leave too. In the end I resigned myself to the fact I would never be able to do a job. I had the baby I'd always wanted via a sperm donor. Went on benefits & didn't care that all my family labelled me a sponger. I later had to be diagnosed & went on DLA.