Therapy or counselling for Aspergers adult - recommendations

Thanks so much.  We're looking into Action for Aspergers right now.

Hello again.  It's true, there's a real shortage of autism-friendly/trained practitioners who I think can be trusted (and by that I mean who stand outside the medical model which pathologises autism and who are themselves neurodivergent and know the lie of the land from the inside out). 

If the FB group or Action for Asperger's are unable to help, then I wonder about contacting Ausome Training, an Ireland-based organisation who, from my experience, often involve neurodivergent therapists in their training (usually webinars at the moment).  I am on this journey myself and currently thinking about contacting either Eoin Stephens or Stiof MacAmhalhaidh about therapy (which would be for me rather than my sons as they will not engage with the process).  But my interest derives from my own positive experience of  them from hearing them speak in webinars and I've no personal experience of them as therapists.  I do know, however, that they themselves have struggled with many of the issues faced by our young people and that their own experiences have informed their therapeutic approaches.  I can't find Stiof's website (tho' sure Autism Training will have it) but Eoin's is  https://www.eoinstephens.com/, if you're interested. 

funded meant the EU paid your fees and gave u an income similar to the dole.  Graduate employment schemes are very patchy in quality but  he will be asked what he did in his missing year  in some interviews.  

tell him he cant be so choosey ,,,  sorry he needs to waken up to the market. Many companies are now switching to working from home  which means the employer can employ people from all over Europe without anyone having to move to the UK.

Get him to Join at least 4 recruitment agencies  and take what he is offered ( within reason ) but look out for "working from home" positions. (I love working from home).

if he cant get a job he needs to be doing something useful  like learning/training in the latest IT language methodologies  or creating a website he can use to demo his skills.

there are also autism placing organisations that place IT autistics into companies with a mentor this is awesome if he can get into anything like that.

he has to have a very good reason or skill set for someone to employ him and not the next person. . Unless he is obviously autistic ( I am not )  Dont mention it for as long as possible.

He could be a brilliant programmer I really dont know.

he could try applying for a PhD and become an academic thats another route. If u are rich u could apply for MSc in many universities and say u will pay for fees etc Money opens doors in universities :)  

I've now visited Kieran Rose and thank you for putting us on to him.  What a breath of fresh air.  I love his understanding of autism.  That's how it looked to me as a parent, seeing my son grow up and how his mind worked.  I've never seen it properly reflected in the autism literature before.

But I'm still looking for personal recommendations as to a practitioner who can be trusted to not be patronising/misinterpreting of the client based on their own failure to understand the austistic mind!  On the other hand I also agree with Aidie that having a job could make a lot of the feelings evaporate.

Computer Science.  Thanks very much for this advice.  He wanted to do a MSc but got a 2:2 which is why that was closed down to him.  By "funded MSc" do you mean you paid for this privately?  Would you recommend this approach?  I agree about Graduate Employment Schemes but he is fearful that equates to being babied.  I will pass on your very helpful advice to him!

i spent a year unemployed after graduating. i worked so hard to get my degree it was the biggest slap in the face ever ! I am not surprised he is depressed.  i then did a funded MSc to convert to IT which did get me work eventually. Look out for graduate employment schemes they are a good way in.

what degree did he get ?

Thanks so much Jenny for your kind advice.  Unfortunately I am going to have to do the research myself as one of my son's issues is "admin".  Any admin and particularly researching new stuff on the internet sends him into a meltdown.  I'll take up these references then if I find a good site, put him on to it.

Thanks again!

I've not had very good experiences with IAPT so I think you're wise to avoid them.  It's hard to find autism-friendly NHS services so I agree, it's a bit of a minefield finding therapists.  There's a Facebook group called "Counsellors working with neurodivergence" which I believe is compiling a list of practising members so it might be worth asking them.  Action for Aspergers seem reasonable too but your son would have to have a look at their website to get a feel for whether this might suit him.  Or maybe it'd be worthwhile him joining a couple of  decent FB groups in order to sound the ground himself?  Autism Inclusivity and Autism late diagnosis support and education" are two good ones, I think, but much of this will depend upon your son's individual preferences.  He might want to do some reading around first, in which case I'd suggest anything by Kieran Rose and the resources he lists on his Autistic Advocate website.  

Overall I'd be keen to put more of the sifting and searching into your son's hands if possible (and with your support and consultation/guidance if needed) because any therapist would need to be a good fit for him individually and capable of forming a good therapeutic relationship with him.  I'm not sure that this would be very easy to gauge from recommendations from others but you should be able to see from their websites whether they're autism-friendly, esaily accessible, do online therapy if preferred and experienced in working with autistic adults.  Obviously it'd be great to see some reviews from other parents of autistic adults in order to help this process but this isn't something I've ever found on my own journey (late diagnosed autistic parent to 2 adult autistic sons, both of whom with significant issues relating to poor services we've desperately accessed in the past).