Trigger warning: this post discusses possible suicide.
Hello, everyone. I see I haven’t posted on here for some time, but I’d appreciate some help with my current predicament.
I’ve been disturbed by a recent encounter (online) with a young adult who, I think, has autism, Asperger’s, OCD and possibly other things besides. They have expressed their intention of taking their own life once they have no parents left to take care of them because they don’t think they’ll be able to cope on their own.
Now, this is hopefully looking way into the future rather than imminent, but it has me concerned, as you might imagine. I have little experience with spectrum conditions, but wonder whether there is support available which might help young people to adapt to some degree of independence - or am I being naïve? I’m not clear what the parental attitude to any such help might be. Is there a potential safeguarding issue here, or should I just mind my own business?
Any insights, references to appropriate material and so on would be very welcome.
Hello Niki. Thanks for posting about this situation in the forum. I’ll send you an email with some suggested sources of support that you could pass on.
Gaming in general works for me. It’s part of my routine for there to be a game on in the evenings when the kids are in bed, whether it’s me playing or watching my SO play. Sometimes we watch a boxset to stop things stagnating but I have to admit I just love the motions of gaming. I have some really repetitive handheld titles for when I’m especially down, such as Pokemon and Tomodachi Life. RPGs help me chill out too.
Routines work for me too. Even when there’s a big issue I can count on my routine to help me work through it. Small things seem to fade away after a while of having my normal routine. And food, I’m a bugger for turning to food when I need to cope.
You will find a lot of information and help in this autism website
There is a forum
Depending on the individual some form of starting some independence in small ways and building up on that might be a starting point if they are up to it. But it depends on their capabilities. Visit the links above and take it from there.