some advice???

Seems my gut instinct was right about SS then. Sorry to hear of your experience. Aspire got back to me yesterday, they were unable to help as I'm out of their reagion in East Sussex and my son is not 18 plus. Seems the problem is country wide. They are aware of the shortfall for post 16-19, but don't have any immediate plans to bridge that gap just now.

If money was no object I'd start up a unit here in East Sussex, It's clearly badly needed, no wonder youngsters struggle. Perhaps that's one to lobby the MP for!

Thanks for all your help though.

 Coogy xx

I know that feeling well.  When the dust has settled you might want to get yourself assessed.  Avoid SS if you can.  I have had to extricate our family and put in a complaint.  And that was disability social services.  They are appalling.

I have suspicions i may be on the spectrum myself, I certainly have dyslexia. I struggle to get the information I need to help him. Feels like the blind leading the blind sometimes. Yet my difficulties; which are (moderate/severe) compared to him (Very severe}, give me some insight into his angst.

I've e-mailed the links to see if they can help. Thanks.

Really don't want to go down the SS route if i can help it. Have heard some real horror stories of late.

I'm not sure about the legalities side, ConneXions were very vague on the issue. My son is having difficulties at an FE Institution yet my eldest son has masses of support at Uni. I guess it's down to the area you study in.

My children are younger so I haven't experienced this problem myself, but bearing in mind the terrible provision for adults on the autistic spectrum (of which I am one) it is no surprise.  I have read of others with this same problem.  A lot of it is that HE institutions are just entirely ignorant of the law...sadly parents need to educate them.

Many Thanks for this intenseworld. I will check these out. Is this a common problem?

Coogy

Yes. I see what you mean, it says:

Our services for children and young people are developing rapidly and we are able to provide the following services across Sussex. We can provide any of the services below via Direct Payments or through funding provided by Social Services across East and West Sussex.

So, it may be that the only help you can get is through a SS recommendation.  I don't blame you for being wary of SS but you could ask for direct payments?  Maybe what Autism Sussex means, is that they don't personally have the funding and you would have to get it through SS.

Maybe contact Aspire or Assert for Advice: http://www.bh-impetus.org/projects/aspire/ and http://www.assertbh.org.uk/, althought I'm not sure if you need to be 18 to access those.  And of course you could always speak to your MP but I know that when you are that exhausted it's another battle you don't want.  You might find this useful:

http://www.nao.org.uk/report/oversight-of-special-education-for-young-people-aged-16-25/

Legally your son is entitled to support in education up to the age of 25: http://www.autismeye.com/overhaul-of-sen-confirms-education-to-25/ so I would start asserting your rights.

Hello all,

My son has Aspergers and Dyslexia. He's post 16 now and supposidly supported by conneXions at College. Since leaving School his statatement has ended and he's been given a MOAP/LDA (Moving on action plan/Learning Disability Assessment.) The problem is very little of his assessment has been implimented and he's half way through his college year. He's a bright lad and with the right support could have managed the level of course he was on, however he's struggling because he cannot read and write so they've dropped him down a level. If he had the assistive software identified in his MOAP he would have been able to access the course literature, but it hasn't been supplied!

Since moving to the college he's truly struggled. His behavoiural outbursts have increased and so have his night terrors. The change of College was meant to be supported by transition support delivered by a Targeted Youth Worker, but again this never transpired. The last text I recieved from the TYW was in Nov 2013 saying he'd be in touch. I've since found out the guy has left the job, but no substitute has been put forward. My sons well supported at home, but is really being let down by the educational establishment and the LEA.

Both my husband and I have struggled dreadfully over the past 6 months to keep him on track. He dropped out of education in Jan, but has now returned. He was so well supported at his last School and the dysparity is so huge between College and School that he's drowning. He says he feels abandoned.

My experiences so far have been horrendous with post 16 provision and I've heard some pretty poor stories with regard to SS, so what I want to know is,

Is their a mentor service or targeted support that I can access to help him get back on track and support him with his needs?

We live in Sussex and i've contacted my local centre Autisum Sussex, but they say their is only funding in West Sussex for targeted support. This is not what their website reads so i challenged it again some months later and got the same response. www.autismsussex.org.uk/.../YoungPeople

ConneXions tell me their is nothing for High Functioning Aspergers sufferers in East Sussex.

There is the YES service for youth with SEN, but this is designed to support once the young person becomes a NEET. This really feels like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted and I don't want him to get to meldown before he gets any assistance.

The strain is begining to take it's toll on the family and i'm so weary of having the doors shut in my face. Am I alone in this difficulty or are others finding the same problem? Is this a common problem in other areas?

We are limited in funds, but i'd even consider private assistance if such a thing exists! Thanks for listening,

Yours Exhausted

Coogybear

@davek75: I can't believe the HA didn't co-ordinate with housing benefits.  Perhaps you can give your rent office the HB number to liaise?

longman said:

They can ask for money to be held against breakages, which as anyone will tell you, even if you never break anything and leave the place perfect at the end of the tenancy, you'll have a job to get any of it back.

That tends to be private landlord behaviour.  As a past HA tenant myself, I can tell you a HA would not behave like that.  HAs don't ask for deposits and there is now a law about landlords keeping deposits in an independent way so that they are not in control of handing it back (or not).  When we vacated our HA flat they couldn't believe how immaculate we left it, and we didn't have a deposit to do it for, they said it was like newly decorated and they wished all their tenants were like us.

Hi davek - double check your position about the £10 in advance with the housing assoc.  Ask for a chat with a housing officer so you can get more detail on this, explaining the situation is new for you.   I know the last thing you want to do is cause any problems for yourself,  so if you don't feel comfortable doing what I've just suggested, then talk to CAB.   The good news is you're going to be on full hb when it gets processed so that's a relief financially.  I hope you're enjoying your new home, you certainly deserve to. 

If you can, go along with it. If you cannot pay then you need to find out if you can acquire an advance from benefits.

Rented property carries a lot of up fronts - yiou are lucky it is only £10 by which you have to stay ahead. 

They can ask for money to be held against breakages, which as anyone will tell you, even if you never break anything and leave the place perfect at the end of the tenancy, you'll have a job to get any of it back. Some places ask for money to cover transfer over gas and electric if you aren't taking over the accounts in person.

The world goes around on slush money, and the benefits office may be quite strict on what they pay towards it, leaving you to pick up the extras. Its an unjust world and you just need to live with it. You may get your surplus back later, you may not.

Look at it this way. How many other ways have you lost ten pounds and had to live with it? This is probably a better cause than most.