Hi all, I’m new to this forum and was seeking advice🙂
My son was diagnosed with classic autism at age 5. He is now 16. The first 6 years after diagnosis,were very hard. He was non verbal, had frequent meltdowns and totally locked in his own world. Today,with the right support in place, he has grown into a beautiful young boy, loving,innocent and vulnerable, but has the mental age of a 6/7 year old. He has limited speech and will only talk about his own interests.
I can’t let him go outside on his own,as too vulnerable and he has no real awareness of danger or the mental capacity to get adequate help if he got lost. He goes to saturday clubs and a weds youth group (pre lockdown) and does do activities without me,so is used to being with other carers.
He will be attending college in september, basic life skills ,maths English.
My question is, its breaking my heart at the thought that he will not be able to live with me ‘forever’. I won’t always be around and god forbid,if my health fails at a young age, he would be on his own. I was thinking of looking into residential care for him when hes around 25 (I will be 58 at that point),so he could get used to being away from me but I dont know where to start, how long the wait is for a correct placement or how SS adult services even do their baseline assessments on needs . I want him to have a fullfiling life and be able to cope and be happy, and I know it’s a few years away yet, but its causing me sleepless nights of fretting and worrying and thinking that noone else can care for or love him, like I do…
He is a 5ft 11 lad, a solid 12 stones, but mentally a young child and I’m unsure if that will change as he gets older .
Sorry for rambling, it’s just all so daunting