Published on 12, July, 2020
Any advice would be appreciated. My son aged 24, has recently been diagnosed with ASD, which explains why he has been self medicating with cannabis since the age of 14 and the last 5 years with cocaine. He has sought help with our local drug service and now doesn't use cannabis only cocaine and is attending weekly meetings, but he feels that this won't help in getting clean, as he takes it to cope with his ASD. He has been assessed by mental health and the ASD service, who cannot assist him with coping mechanisms as he is on drugs. So my son cannot get any help with his ASD because he's on drugs. We are both despairing and any advice would be appreciated.
Dear Julie1968,
I am sorry to hear that your son hasn't been able to access help and support with these issues. You might like to look at our page on addiction which has links to guides for both autistic adults and parents:
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/addiction
If you'd like to speak to someone, you might also like to consider contacting our Autism Helpline - you can find the details here:
https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/helpline
I hope that helps.
Regards,
Kerri-Mod
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I will have a look at the links.