Autistic son PIP and Employment

cjs1111

Hi all. My son is 17 and doesn’t attend college because of his Autism, we’ve tried but it just won’t happen. To cut a long story short we applied for PIP (reassessment from DLA) and got disallowed with 0 points which we are awaiting a MR decision so fingers crossed. From experience is it ‘tight’ for me to guide my son in to employment when he turns 18, I feel really bad but his dad doesn’t quite understand him because he’s ‘old-fashioned’, especially with what’s going on PIP etc? He really does struggle a lot and family members don’t know about his Autism (he wanted it that way because of a late diagnosis and embarrassment which I feel for him) and they keep making comments about him being ‘lazy’.

janer1967

Hi and welcome 

I am saddened by your post saying your son would be embarrassed if family know about his disability . He has a disability and the more open he is about it the more support will be available 

You are not being tight wanting him to find work as long as it is something which will lead to more independence for him and not just about the money 

If your son doesnt attend college how so you think he would cope in the workplace? It can be hard to find a suitable job for anyone currently 

Is there some voluntary work he could do first to get some experience 

Quite a lot for you to think about . Tge job centre have disability work advisors 

cjs1111

Thanks all, he has never been a learning type of person with a very short attention span. I just wanted him to have independence and I understand there’ll be bumps along the road with certain employers not being helpful for him but he’s a lovely lad who will keep it in and discuss it with me. I think we will wait for Coronavirus to be come less prevalent and try for a volunteering role then. Many thanks for your advice too. I look forward to engaging on other posts.