Published on 12, July, 2020
We have a 20 year old son with Semantic Pragmatic Disorder. He was diagnosed with this at age 8 by the school special needs teacher.and consequently was referred to a speech and language therapist and the local health centre, where he had many appoinments over his schooling years. Any support like this ceased when he left school.
He recently lost his job due to his behaviour at work and his employer not making adequate provision for his disorder.. He loves IT and his job was to solve IT issues over the phone. He did not disclose his condition due to fear of being labelled or marginalised and his employer only made minimal adjustments for him in the latter months of his employment. He is appealing his dismissal on discrimination grounds.
He can be the most caring, helpful and loving person, but then his behaviour can be very challenging when he is in stressful situations, such as going to the job centre. It is so frustrating as sometimes you just cannot reason with him and feel like disowning him. Obviously we would never do this but that is how we feel sometimes.
Does anyone know where he can get a formal adult diagnosis of his condition and to see if he has a more significant form of autism other than SPD? He is now out of work and has difficulty facing up to the reality that a job is not going to come to him. He thinks all he has to do is email his cv off and the phone will ring. He is very loath to accept any help and advice we offer but is not able to handle some situations on his own.
Any advice from others in similar situations would be most welcome.
Thank you
Hello and welcome. Here's the basic information about getting an autism or related diagnosis:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/adults.aspx
I hope his appeal goes well. Any union representation or legal threat of an Employment Tribunal would hopefully get a better deal from the former employer. You seem very concerned about future employment. Among other things, some work coaches at Jobcentres know their stuff and anyway can get disability advice.
Hi - thanks for the info. I like the Billy Gibbons picture by the way! We are trying to get him referred and diagnosed as soon as possible. He has a appeal date against his dismissal next month. Hopefully someone will actually read the law before simply sacking a vulnerable individual. His ex employer advertises as being all caring and compassionate, when it is all PR. A familiar story no doubt. Do you know if it is easy getting disability benefits, or how to do it?
I am new to all this benefits stuff. One possible job option could be modelling or acting. Our son is 6 foot 9 tall. Maybe that could be a job route...