Published on 12, July, 2020
straight to the point: does anyone know where I might be able to access the services of an advocate? I am pretty much independent - live alone, full time job etc. these achievements - and they bloody well are achievements - seem to count against me when it comes to accessing help and support. mental health services have flat out refused to take me on for care co-ordination based on the reasoning that as I'm in work, my need is not urgent.
I don't want to go too much into the backstory, and why this is bad - I suspect it will be a very familiar story here. but I am kind of beset by huge, rich organisations either threatening me for money, or demanding I run around gathering information for them. I am tired, scared, frustrated and beginning to despair. I really need someone to help me work through all this stuff, but unfortunately my local authority doesn't seem to care and I have no peer or familial network to give me some support.
can anyone point me in the right direction here? does NAS provide any services like this?
thanks in advance for any help/advice
Hi williamthecrow,
There's information on advocacy and resource suggestions on this page of our website: https://www.autism.org.uk/about/adult-life/advocacy.aspx
You can search for advocacy services in your area using the Autism Services Directory here: https://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx
Alternatively, as suggested by Bookworm, you may like to contact our Autism Helpline team who can provide you with information and advice . You can contact the team via telephone on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm). Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor. Alternatively, should you prefer to send a message, you can do so via their webform:
https://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main/questions.aspx
I hope that helps.
Regards,
Kerri-Mod