Having completed his education journey successfully, my 19 year old step son, has come to a standstill. He has struggled to make steps forward since completing his A levels, and his mental health is increasingly suffering. His Mum asked if he could come to live with us after a year of not leaving his room and increasingly oppositional behaviour. He managed the transition to his new living situation well and, as I am a teacher, I organised voluntary work at my school to enable him to begin to build his self esteem and self worth. He was rock bottom and we were aware he had had suicidal and self harming thoughts. He has thrived in the School setting and has received lots of positive feedback from staff. He volunteers for 2 days a week and continues to attend weekly theatre group meetings, which he has done since he was 6 years old so is very familiar with everyone. We received his long awaited diagnosis of Aspergers in July, this has helped him to understand himself a little better I think (hope!) He is very private with his Dad, but will often chat to me on the way to school, about things but clearly feels able to express himself in other ways i.e. through theatre and recently, on world mental health awareness day, through a video on Facebook about his own mental health. We basically feel totally alone. We have a diagnosis but dont know where to go for support. It all feels a lot bigger than us, especially in terms of helping him make steps towards independence. He is high functioning and can communicate effectively when not anxious or in a low mood. I am working towards teaching him basic skills i.e. simple cooking, going in to a bank, planning his day etc but worry we may be missing something. Can anyone advise me where I can look for local help. We are in Wiltshire, near Swindon/Wootten Bassett.
