Counselling help- ASD and learning disability

lizzy268

My son is 24 and has autism and learning disability and other health problems.  He has severe depression and anxiety. we are trying to get counselling for him. he will be too old for young persons help by time his referral goes thru will be 25. Everywhere I turn they say can't help him for different reasons. He says he would be better off not living. where do we turn to to actually get him some help? I welcome any suggestions that people might have. thank you in advance.
Lizzy.

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @lizzy268, and a warm welcome to the community!

So sorry to hear this, it sounds like a really difficult situation for both you and your son. Do you mind sharing where you've tried so far, and whether you've spoken to your son's GP about this? Do let us know and we'll do our best to advise further!

lizzy268

gp gave us ypi details but no good. am trying autisic society, scope. italk is phone only but he cant talk to strangers on phone. 

lizzy268

gp gave ypi details they cant help. am trying autistic society epilepsy assc. italk only do phone first and he cant talk to strangers on phone . 

EmmaB

Hi @lizzy268

My first thought is whether he gets PIP and if so whether he could use some of that money to pay for a private counsellor as that's the sort of thing it could be useful for?  

If so then it's a question of finding a therapist who knows something about autism, preferably who can show you some relevant training they've had.  It is possible to put autism into the search facility on the BACP [British Assn of Counsellors and Psychotherapists] find a therapist facility:  https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists

I would suggest that you don't go for a traditional psychoanalyst because they don't really 'give' a lot with their 'blank screen' approach to counselling.  I've seen this in action with someone with autism and I really felt it wasn't helpful and was actually pretty confusing to the client...

Another option is whether online therapy would work for him i.e. if he is interested/into being on computers and communicating this way?  

Being an online therapist myself [via video, instant messaging or e mail] I would say the potential drawback in this approach is that it is slightly harder to build a relationship with someone online than face to face and you might thing that face to face contact would be more beneficial for your son - it's certainly the case that the key to good therapy is building a strong [therapeutic] relationship with the client.

I really help you can find someone to put your son on a more positive path.

Best wishes.

Emma

lizzy268

Thank you for your help I will look into these. I didnt know that you could put autism into the search on that site, i will go back to it and look again. thanks Emma.