Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello I'm new to this. I am carer to my brother who was originally diagnosed with asperges. His autism is well maintained and he is what I would call pretty high functioning. Though he does need assistance with things like money and always needs support in employment or voluntary work. He is currently doing voluntary work which he has been doing a long time. Last year he seemed upset and was quieter than usual. I asked him what was wrong. He told me they had been helping him with showers where he volunteers. Well that was ok I thought until he told me that they had been in the shower with him on at least two occasions and even though he told them he wanted to shower on his own his request was ignored. Now the issue has come up again and they want to come to our house 5 mornings a week to monitor him with showers. Now I told them he has a shower early in the morning before work. But at this safeguarding meeting it was as if I was being accused of lying and they really pushed this seeming to ignore how distressed my brother was. There's other things but I will talk about them another day. I'm concerned things are happening and I don't know about them. So I get an upset brother who then gets asthma as he's so worked up. Any help would be appreciated
Hi
I know there is probably a reason for it, but why is your brother being showered at all at a work placement? I would be very concerned especially if people are going into the shower with him!
I am also unsure why a work placement would have a safeguarding meeting or want to observe him at your home.
Surely if he is an adult he can shower when he likes?
I'm not sure that I am clear on the situation and would recommend that you call the helpline for advice asap
www.autism.org.uk/.../contact-us.
Thank you. This is the point I tried to make to them. They have also booked doctors dentist and opticians appointments without my knowledge. The one that annoyed me was the opticians when the social worker just told me how much his glasses would cost. For two pairs. Firstly he only needs one pair as he has a pair which just need new lens secondly he only needs them for reading. They even tried to arrange to take him shopping which I'm totally capable of doing myself. Plus I want him to be free to choose what he wants not what they think he wants. As for the showering I think it partly stemmed from him having sore underarms. They think he doesn't dry them properly. I've changed his deodorant and washing liquid and fabric conditioner. I've explained to him to take a little longer to make sure he is dry. They say his hair looks greasy. But it looks ok in the morning and only looks that way when he comes home - he works in a kitchen environment. He doesn't wear a hat or hair met though I told them Thursday he should have one and they can't have things both ways