Is anyone here getting any help from NAS ?

Hope said:

Zone-tripper: I have Aspergers, can read, write, have been to Uni and attained an upper 2.1 History degree, have recently attained Permitted work on a part-time basis, and now live more or less independently in my own flat.....But I have a long-term disability (Aspergers) with significant mental-health problems, and I do not think my condition is 'mild'. While my issues are very different to a person who can't speak and is  learning disabled, I actually experience a similar degree of disability relative to what is expected of me. You are very lucky to be able to go to gigs on your own, and to have a full-time job, but only 15 per cent of people with Aspergers are in full-term work!. Most people with Aspergers require some degree of support, and the NAS should campaign for this support to be made available. Not everyone is as fortunate as yourself!

Dear Hope,

(Firstly, I apologise if what I wrote caused you any offence, upset or ill-feelings.  They were merely my viewpoint and not meant to cause any offence.)

I actually agree with you what you have wrote.  Yes, I am extremely lucky and I often think how lucky I have been in life, how one day my luck might run out, and how different my life might have been if I had not been so lucky.  

However, that is not to say my life has been easy-going.  I have lost jobs, in part due to my anxiety issues symptomatic of Autism/Asperger; although thankfully, I have been in my current job for over eight years.  Even in my current job, I was suspended for approx six weeks after having a meltdown at work, caused by job insecurity, my office being redecorated and boxes and furniture everywhere; I had a meltdown as a result of it!  But I have since returned to work.  

After I moved out of my parents home, I started suffering from loneliness and home sickness almost immediately.  My home sickness got so bad, that I eventually had to move back in with my parents.  

I am on anti-depressants (the highest safe daily dosage) and have seen psychologists, psychiatrists, and counsellors, on and off since my early twenties (I am now 36).  I have anxiety issues and suffer from depression and stress, difficulty coping with changes, suffer from home sickness, suffer from panic attacks and meltdowns, etc.  

But in comparison to my elderly uncle, who is much more Autistic than I, I do not begrudge the fact that his welfare is given greater priority than my own.  Because I have an uncle who has more severe autism, has learning disabilities, cannot read or write, does not know what the time is, has social communication difficulties, and so forth, and needs 24/7 care, I regard my own autism as mild in comparison; hence my usage of the word mild.  But I appreciate and understand that others suffer more than I, which is why I say services have to be prioritised to those in need.  

I agree that there should be as much more support as possible for people with High-Functioning Autism / Asperger Syndrome, especially for adults.  (In my local area, there is very little.)  

Indeed, I used to know somebody with Asperger Syndrome, before I was diagnosed, and she had a carer, had council accommodation, etc, because her Autism affects her more than my Autism affects me.  And people such as yourself, my uncle and the person I used to know should be prioritised ahead of, say, myself.  

The NAS can only do so much and they have to prioritise their work, based on those most in need.  Likewise, the same goes for NHS mental health trusts (especially at a time when they are expected to make £20 billion pounds worth of efficiency savings over five years and also prepare to become Foundation Trusts; combine these with paying off PFI debts, recent scandals involving Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust and others, and the NHS is struggling).  

That was my basic point.  

But there are things that some of us MAY be able to do to help ourselves, such as forming local support groups, local NAS groups, and so forth.  

Hope said:

Zone-tripper: I have Aspergers, can read, write, have been to Uni and attained an upper 2.1 History degree, have recently attained Permitted work on a part-time basis, and now live more or less independently in my own flat.....But I have a long-term disability (Aspergers) with significant mental-health problems, and I do not think my condition is 'mild'. While my issues are very different to a person who can't speak and is  learning disabled, I actually experience a similar degree of disability relative to what is expected of me. You are very lucky to be able to go to gigs on your own, and to have a full-time job, but only 15 per cent of people with Aspergers are in full-term work!. Most people with Aspergers require some degree of support, and the NAS should campaign for this support to be made available. Not everyone is as fortunate as yourself!

Dear Hope,

(Firstly, I apologise if what I wrote caused you any offence, upset or ill-feelings.  They were merely my viewpoint and not meant to cause any offence.)

I actually agree with you what you have wrote.  Yes, I am extremely lucky and I often think how lucky I have been in life, how one day my luck might run out, and how different my life might have been if I had not been so lucky.  

However, that is not to say my life has been easy-going.  I have lost jobs, in part due to my anxiety issues symptomatic of Autism/Asperger; although thankfully, I have been in my current job for over eight years.  Even in my current job, I was suspended for approx six weeks after having a meltdown at work, caused by job insecurity, my office being redecorated and boxes and furniture everywhere; I had a meltdown as a result of it!  But I have since returned to work.  

After I moved out of my parents home, I started suffering from loneliness and home sickness almost immediately.  My home sickness got so bad, that I eventually had to move back in with my parents.  

I am on anti-depressants (the highest safe daily dosage) and have seen psychologists, psychiatrists, and counsellors, on and off since my early twenties (I am now 36).  I have anxiety issues and suffer from depression and stress, difficulty coping with changes, suffer from home sickness, suffer from panic attacks and meltdowns, etc.  

But in comparison to my elderly uncle, who is much more Autistic than I, I do not begrudge the fact that his welfare is given greater priority than my own.  Because I have an uncle who has more severe autism, has learning disabilities, cannot read or write, does not know what the time is, has social communication difficulties, and so forth, and needs 24/7 care, I regard my own autism as mild in comparison; hence my usage of the word mild.  But I appreciate and understand that others suffer more than I, which is why I say services have to be prioritised to those in need.  

I agree that there should be as much more support as possible for people with High-Functioning Autism / Asperger Syndrome, especially for adults.  (In my local area, there is very little.)  

Indeed, I used to know somebody with Asperger Syndrome, before I was diagnosed, and she had a carer, had council accommodation, etc, because her Autism affects her more than my Autism affects me.  And people such as yourself, my uncle and the person I used to know should be prioritised ahead of, say, myself.  

The NAS can only do so much and they have to prioritise their work, based on those most in need.  Likewise, the same goes for NHS mental health trusts (especially at a time when they are expected to make £20 billion pounds worth of efficiency savings over five years and also prepare to become Foundation Trusts; combine these with paying off PFI debts, recent scandals involving Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust and others, and the NHS is struggling).  

That was my basic point.  

But there are things that some of us MAY be able to do to help ourselves, such as forming local support groups, local NAS groups, and so forth.