It has come to the time where I reflect over my ASD son's achievements. He is now 17 years of age and becoming a man rather rapidly, it won't be long about 6 months and he will 18 years of age and classified as an adult. He reminds on a daily basis that he will 18 soon and we cannot tell him what to do!! Does this mean he will listening to me. My advice to him I will always be his mum and I always will tell what to do, no matter what age he is, so get used to it.
His first achievement this year he did a 6 month course at Tafe in Business Administration certificate 2. He got through this really well and he got to know people within his community.
The second achievement was he can catch a train a short distance by himself and navigate the community that he lives in. His preferred method of transport is catching a taxi home after getting off the train.
There was no third achievement, the pre apprenticeship he applied for, he did not get in and this took a toll on my son and myself. It was time to have a break!!! He became a bit deflated as he did have a good start to the year and the second of the year was nothing but doors being closed on him and polite way of saying he just wasn't the person for the position, so it was time to focus on something else. In that time I noticed his psychologists visits were becoming less effective and he was refusing to listen and basically he didn't want to go any more.
It was really time to look at what was happening. I was exhausted with fighting with to listen to me, it was then I decided to have a break. He didn't other organisations to help him on his way to adulthood and looking at work. It's scary to think my boy would soon have to navigate work and learn how to or know what type of of he should be entering.
We took three months to go and have some fun. This year we went to see Myth Busters in Australia, something my son came and asked me to take him too, it was a great show and a great day, even with the disruption of public transport on the day!!! The next outing was a trip to Sydney to see Circus Quirkus which was another fun day out. We also explored eating out in pubs!! One of his goals is to be able to buy an alcoholic drink of his choice when he is 18!!! Not long now he will be able to fulfil that in 6 months!!! We also did a lot of shopping experiences, because my fear as parent is that my boy would try and lock himself away and I didn't want that. One thing I have learnt no matter how bad things get I needed to keep my ASD son moving and doing things all the time, it is okay to have a little time out!!! He is navigating shopping centres a lot better than he used to.
It took three months to convince him he need help in finding out what type of work to do, so he needed to go to a job agency, not just any agency it had to a place like Nova Employment who are the experts in dealing with people like my son. He wouldn't listen and kept saying he could this by himself and finally after three months of me taking him places and going shopping he was getting tired of this and he decided just maybe he did need some help and he went and signed up with them. Now he is officially a job seeker and looking at different industries and how they work!!!I'm expecting him to slot into work straight away, it will one of those things where it will probably be a hit and miss and a lot of working. The biggest thing will be convincing my boy to try something new even if he doesn't like the idea of some thing. There will be no hurry, just a lot of patience, which I lack some times!!!
The last achievement this year is getting a Learners License!!! He finally passed that knowledge test!!! He finally realized the questions on the test only have one answer and everyone has to answer the test the same way. Which meant he had to study or remember every question. We worked out if he downloaded all the questions and answers and went through them, there was a good chance he would be able to remember most of them. Then he sat the practice test and did it over and over until he got every question right with no mistakes at least ten times. He passed the test with only making one mistake!!!
It has been a remarkable year!!! I hope he continues to grow in every way!!! He is someone with a difference and he is making a difference in a big way, he is learning to grow and develop to be the best person that he can be!!!
His first achievement this year he did a 6 month course at Tafe in Business Administration certificate 2. He got through this really well and he got to know people within his community.
The second achievement was he can catch a train a short distance by himself and navigate the community that he lives in. His preferred method of transport is catching a taxi home after getting off the train.
There was no third achievement, the pre apprenticeship he applied for, he did not get in and this took a toll on my son and myself. It was time to have a break!!! He became a bit deflated as he did have a good start to the year and the second of the year was nothing but doors being closed on him and polite way of saying he just wasn't the person for the position, so it was time to focus on something else. In that time I noticed his psychologists visits were becoming less effective and he was refusing to listen and basically he didn't want to go any more.
It was really time to look at what was happening. I was exhausted with fighting with to listen to me, it was then I decided to have a break. He didn't other organisations to help him on his way to adulthood and looking at work. It's scary to think my boy would soon have to navigate work and learn how to or know what type of of he should be entering.
We took three months to go and have some fun. This year we went to see Myth Busters in Australia, something my son came and asked me to take him too, it was a great show and a great day, even with the disruption of public transport on the day!!! The next outing was a trip to Sydney to see Circus Quirkus which was another fun day out. We also explored eating out in pubs!! One of his goals is to be able to buy an alcoholic drink of his choice when he is 18!!! Not long now he will be able to fulfil that in 6 months!!! We also did a lot of shopping experiences, because my fear as parent is that my boy would try and lock himself away and I didn't want that. One thing I have learnt no matter how bad things get I needed to keep my ASD son moving and doing things all the time, it is okay to have a little time out!!! He is navigating shopping centres a lot better than he used to.
It took three months to convince him he need help in finding out what type of work to do, so he needed to go to a job agency, not just any agency it had to a place like Nova Employment who are the experts in dealing with people like my son. He wouldn't listen and kept saying he could this by himself and finally after three months of me taking him places and going shopping he was getting tired of this and he decided just maybe he did need some help and he went and signed up with them. Now he is officially a job seeker and looking at different industries and how they work!!!I'm expecting him to slot into work straight away, it will one of those things where it will probably be a hit and miss and a lot of working. The biggest thing will be convincing my boy to try something new even if he doesn't like the idea of some thing. There will be no hurry, just a lot of patience, which I lack some times!!!
The last achievement this year is getting a Learners License!!! He finally passed that knowledge test!!! He finally realized the questions on the test only have one answer and everyone has to answer the test the same way. Which meant he had to study or remember every question. We worked out if he downloaded all the questions and answers and went through them, there was a good chance he would be able to remember most of them. Then he sat the practice test and did it over and over until he got every question right with no mistakes at least ten times. He passed the test with only making one mistake!!!
It has been a remarkable year!!! I hope he continues to grow in every way!!! He is someone with a difference and he is making a difference in a big way, he is learning to grow and develop to be the best person that he can be!!!
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