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Advice on national autism society?

Juliand123

Have you heard of a website called Nas national autism society in England and Scotland, because I'm considering using them when i move to Scotland, within a few months time, as i have a form of aspergers. Are they any good and do you know if they actually provide proper social skills to people with autism and aspergers?

Have you ever worked with nas, do you know about the staff and their training and if they have proper training in autism and if they've got qualifications, are a lot of the staff just volunteers, as I've heard some people mention this, are nas actually a high quality service, because i don't want to waste my time with them if they're not much help?

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Pippa_Alumni

Hi @Juliand123, is there a particular service within the charity you were looking to find out more about?

Hopefully our ASD advisor will be in touch soon, but from looking at the NAS website it seems that the team, like most charities, includes both professionals and volunteers. This page on NAS' staff may be useful for you to have a look at and find out more about their background. Hope this helps!

Juliand123

Sorry I've posted this in the wrong place but reposted this in the correct page, can a mod delete?

richjbaker27

Hi there @Juliand123 , the NAS seem to have some good info from what I have found, they even have a newsletter specifically for Aspies. I was diagnosed as an Aspie earlier this year, or High Functioning Autism as it's officially known as these days, after a few years of wondering about it and doing a few online tests. It answered a lot of questions for me, I'm 54. You'll also find some good help on YouTube, just search for Asperger's there. If you need direct links just let me know and I'll post the details for you.

Juliand123

Hi, thanks for letting me know, but are you able to send me the links of the info I'm looking for or what you've found even and does the newsletter actually tell you about the services for people with aspergers and the kind of support they can give you, because Im not trying to be negative at all, but I'm just not willing to work with them if they don't provide the types of services I'm looking for and I'll be paying for it, also from some of the reviews on facebook page it does have quite a bit bad reviews?

richjbaker27

This is the list of YouTube stuff I've found interesting. http://bit.ly/2jpBKuI . With regards to actually working with NAS I have no idea, I got my diagnosis through the NHS, and so can't say about if the NAS are worth paying for, I am a member and do support them via my membership though . However I am a great believer in self help and there are plenty of free things out there to help, or so I have found.

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @Juliand123, there's information on their website about the individual services the charity provide, such as these services in Scotland which you may be interested in when you move.

There is a wealth of information on the same website but if you do have further queries about these services or the staff who provide them, the best bet would be to contact the charity directly, as they will know better than anybody else what they can and cannot provide. Here are their contact details.

Thank you for sharing the playlist, @richjbaker27!

Nystagmite

As an adult, I found them to be utterly useless. I've found a lot of adults who said the same.

Juliand123

Did you gain much from there services, like do the befriending services actually provide proper social skills to people with autism, not just a few basic stuff and do the staff seem to lack a lot of training and experience in autism?

butchartkent

I live in a town in Kent and since my sons diagnosis of ASD this summer plus his adhd I’ve found them a waste of time !! There’s nothing in my area for Support , transition team weren’t what another operator told me so I got my hopes up for nothing . My 19 year old desperately needs social skills and life skills support training!!! I’m exhausted daily

Juliand123

butchartkent said:

I live in a town in Kent and since my sons diagnosis of ASD this summer plus his adhd I’ve found them a waste of time !! There’s nothing in my area for Support , transition team weren’t what another operator told me so I got my hopes up for nothing . My 19 year old desperately needs social skills and life skills support training!!! I’m exhausted daily

Ok ye well i have heard a lot of people say similar things, i had high hopes for nas when i looked at their services but from what people have said and the reviews on the fb page it's really put me off from using them. I'm trying to look for proper social skills for people with aspergers, not the basic rubish but with things like making friends, but its practically none at all as I've looked into to see if theres any other services thst provide proper social skills training for people with autism, but there's nothing. Why are a lot of charities and services in the uk so terrible, i dont understand why that just provide high quality services the proper training, not thingd like providing very basic training like nas does?!

Nystagmite

Juliand123 said:

butchartkent said:

I live in a town in Kent and since my sons diagnosis of ASD this summer plus his adhd I’ve found them a waste of time !! There’s nothing in my area for Support , transition team weren’t what another operator told me so I got my hopes up for nothing . My 19 year old desperately needs social skills and life skills support training!!! I’m exhausted daily

Ok ye well i have heard a lot of people say similar things, i had high hopes for nas when i looked at their services but from what people have said and the reviews on the fb page it's really put me off from using them. I'm trying to look for proper social skills for people with aspergers, not the basic rubish but with things like making friends, but its practically none at all as I've looked into to see if theres any other services thst provide proper social skills training for people with autism, but there's nothing. Why are a lot of charities and services in the uk so terrible, i dont understand why that just provide high quality services the proper training, not thingd like providing very basic training like nas does?!

That's the sort of thing I need. But no-one will help me. Social services claim I don't have Autism and don't understand my needs at all. They actually labelled me awkward because I can't cope with large crowds or too much noise.

After being diagnosed, I wasn't given any help at all.

Margi

Go for it.......they are great...............give them a chance

VioletFenn

Hi, NAS don't generally offer support 'on the ground', but they're very good for online advice and other resources.

Your best bet would be to google 'autism support' and the area you're moving to - for e.g., if I google 'autism support Shropshire' it brings up Autism West Midlands, who have been a source of endless support and advice for both myself and my son. Many of them (AWM included) don't officially offer help for adults, but will still point you in the right direction.

Violet
ASD advisor, Scope

Rosiesmum

I have a 19 year old son who has just left special school and I'm finding the same lack of services here for adults

Good news is the borough are finally starting to get things right regarding the younger kids but I have had to fight to have his EHCP continued now he is no longer in education even though it is supposed to last til he is 25.

Same problem as many parents here the social isolation and lack of friends is heartbreaking to witness.

We won't give up though our current strategy is trying to get him to join some clubs to do with his interests problem is he goes once then he's done it and doesn't go again!