whats next at 18

Cheesecake

Hi

My son is 18 and has completed a level 3 BTEC course. He is autistic but was refused an Educational Health Care Plan. He has severe issues socially and mentally. He has had a  lack of support from school and college.

We have discussed what to do next. He is interested in cooking and has recently had a trial day in a kitchen environment. He really enjoyed this, so we have applied for a catering course (a level 1) but as he already has a level 3 btec this has been refused. The college where he got this level 3 are trying to push him into uni/higher education and to get a loan. This is a path which he doesn’t want to go down.

He struggles with communication and whilst he may be academically good, in additional to being autistic he suffers from anxiety depression (he is currently on medication for this) and has no friends. Because of his demeanour, he is often singled out and picked on. 

I know he is entitled to another year of free education and we have found a 1 yr course in a kitchen/catering environment which he is excited about but would he be rejected for this? Where do we go from here?

Ross_Alumni

Hello @Cheesecake and welcome to the community, I like the username  

How are you? I hope you are managing okay in the heat. Thank you for telling us about the situation with your son.

It's a shame that he was turned down for the level one course, especially since he really enjoys cooking and wants to continue with it. In terms of the other course you have found, I'm not sure whether he would be turned down for it or not, but there's no harm in getting in touch to ask   Does it say on the page for the course what the entry criteria is?

Have you considered contacting IPSEA to discuss what your potential options could be? 

I also wonder if, even though he has a year left of education, you have considered looking for any workplace options that he could go straight into in a learning capacity? Perhaps the place where he had a trial day would be able to advise about how he could approach it.

How is your son managing with his conditions? You mentioned his autism, anxiety and depression, and that he is on medication for the latter, but I just wanted to check that you are both satisfied with the level of support he receives to help him manage those?

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This is a very supportive and welcoming site to be a part of so I’m hopeful that you’ll find it to be a positive outlet. Feel free to have a look around and get involved wherever you’d like 😊 I have included below a few of the pages I’d recommend having a look through to get used to things:

• The virtual coffee lounge which is one of our categories, in which we play games and talk about general subjects such as hobbies and interests
• The recent discussions page, which shows an overview of everything happening across the community
• The categories page, which shows a full list of discussion groups on the community

If you have any questions at all then don’t hesitate to ask.

Cheesecake

Hi, there is no support at all. he just about copes on his medication. 

L_Volunteer

That sounds really tough @Cheesecake What would the ideal support look like for him at the moment? If we can do anything to help, please don't hesitate to let us know 

Karen7788

Hi @Cheesecake,
Has he considered an apprenticeship? 

There’s some good guidance on the Autism Society’s website on apprenticeships.
There’s also advice on the,
nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/get-the-jump/apprenticeships