I work as an independent advocate for adults with learning disabilities. We sometimes work with people in the autistic spectrum, because there is sometimes no-one else there to support, even though people with aspergers/autism do not particularly have a learning disablility. People with autism/aspergers are often of higher than average intelligence, but as they have neither a physical disability nor mental health issues, there is no specific service to provide support. A new gentleman has come to our organisation, who seems very vulnerable in many ways, but is very undersupported. Do people with Aspergers syndrome have difficulty accessing services, i.e. to have suitable housing that reflects their needs, because of their obvious intelligence and capabilities in other areas? I think I mean, do people find that their strengths work against them, and services don't provide for peoples vulnerable aspects? This is coming from the North West of England, I would love to know how other people/areas have accessed good and RELIABLE aspie-friendly supports.
cheers! :?
People are starting to realise that autistic people should be assisted by neither the mental health services, nor the learning disability services. At the moment though, there is no other option.
Aspies do have difficulty accessing services because of their intelligence in other areas. Many aspies also have difficulty communicating their needs effectively. If we are told, "we can't help you," we often take that literally, rather than persisting.
People are starting to realise that autistic people should be assisted by neither the mental health services, nor the learning disability services. At the moment though, there is no other option.
Aspies do have difficulty accessing services because of their intelligence in other areas. Many aspies also have difficulty communicating their needs effectively. If we are told, "we can't help you," we often take that literally, rather than persisting.
I guess I was lucky that my father was a Sergeant in the National Guard who had to deal with a lot of bureaucracy--and I got to hear about a lot of it. I got to learn about "government code words", special meanings assigned to certain phrases by bureaucrats.
"We can't help you.": We can probably do what you want, but seeing to your needs would require more work than we're willing to do.
"There will be a delay.": We didn't bother to file the paperwork, so we'll hope you'll just forget about it and go away.
There are a lot of others.
I always take things like that literally and get p'ed off because it takes a lot of courage for me to ask for help in the first place.
"Do people with Aspergers syndrome have difficulty accessing services, i.e. to have suitable housing that reflects their needs, because of their obvious intelligence and capabilities in other areas? I think I mean, do people find that their strengths work against them, and services don't provide for peoples vulnerable aspects?"
Yes, I do have problems accessing services in Canada. I have trouble obtaining and keeping employment. I am registered with a government agency that is supposed to help people with disabilities. Any of the employment seminars with employers I have attended always emphasize how they are making accommodations for people with physical and visible disabilities but most employers have extraordinary prejudice against people with developmental disabilties: problems with social skills, time management, learning disabilities.
Without support, the working poor in Canada have difficulty finding adequate and affordable housing. Some people are paying 80% or more of their income towards housing without enough money for food and necessities. They are using food banks. Others are forced to live with family. My friend with AS killed himself because he couldn't find employment despite his excellent education.
M, that is an utter disgrace and it certainly agrees with what I was told by a lady here who emigrated from Canada some years ago.
Australia might have its faults but I think our social security system is more compassionate in some ways than in a lot of other Western Countries.
I find people disbelieving that I have any impairments because of high competencies in other areas. The fear of using the phone to call strangers means if my mower breaks (which it has a few times), the grass will grow really high and I will resort to cutting it by hand with a pair of scissors.
If something else breaks, eg. the hot water system, I will get by with having cold showers for months on end. I've got to be really sick before I'll go to the doctor's.
This is all related to executive dysfunction and some people think just giving a list of instructions will solve the problem. They forget to check if I am really able to carry out all that they say. Anyway, I don't want advice unless I specifically ask for it.
But wouldn't it take a bit of pressure off you to find out for sure? I tried for years to hide my real self and eventually it led to having several breakdowns.
No, I don't know if too many in Government have even heard of it. :roll:
I'm currently having trouble with a Telco and was advised to mention that I have autism but this might or might not carry any weight with them.
I live in Germany, and I donīt know so much about those services, as I was just diagnosed recently.
However, I should be provided with "Einzellfallhilfer", that is, social assistant or so, but that comes from SozialPsychiatrischeDienst, so itīs actually service for people with mental problems.
Otherwise, I have also heard, that autists should get their internet paid by social office if they are unemplyed/livin on social security. I will find out about that hopefully, when Iīll get that EFH.
Then, with Reha- rebuilding? whatever? from Unemployment Office isnīt real education for example, and I doubt that they have anything suitable unless you are really into computers. (Iīm into arts and music)
In my case, my psychiatrist was even for pension, for inability to work..well, I can do arts but I cannot manage exhibitions or marketing so...I donīt make my living with it...
I guess that also in Germany the situation depends a lot of where you live, and how strongly you can demand help for you, which most aspies including me cannot do so well.
So, indeed, I think that in alla countries there should be special services for Aspies and Autists, independent but accustomed to what level of problems they have with getting on with society- I mean now living, education, job possibilities and so on.
Timelord, it's a bit of a long story but I'll do my best to condense it as much as possible.
Back in August, I had a very close and dear friend staying with me. A few months before, when he first came to visit, I authorised him to speak to the Telco about my phone connection (not the internet) as I was having some issues about talking on the phone.
Anyway, in August one of the sales people phoned and said they were upgrading the services and would he like to set up an account with 3 months free and free installation of the modem. He said yes and we thought it was okay.
Then I get this bill for 1173.00 for "excess usage" in September but under my friend's name. I said the account was set up without my say so and that he was not informed of the paltry download limit when he signed up. They said because I authorised him to talk about my landline that meant he was also authorised to set up an account on my behalf.
He doesn't want to pay as he's on disability support pension and I think he was misled because the salesperson "forgot" to tell him of the download limits.
I've got a number for the Telecommunications Ombudsman but they say you have to go through all the processes with the Telco first. I have already told the Telco both my dear friend and I have disabilities.
No, I certainly didn't know about all the possible implications of giving consent to speak on my behalf.
Also, at the time my friend wasn't told he could select the plan that best suited him. The plan had a 200 KB/month limit and then it was 15c per KB after that. They said we downloaded 7.8 Gb in the first month but I seriously doubt it.
My friend seems to think there was some mention of the limit when he got the pack but didn't think it applied as we kept checking on the computer and it kept saying the bill would be $0. He is legally blind and couldn't read the fine print. I could have but was having general problems in coping with the housework and keeping up with all the correspondence.
I can't find any doctor here who could write out a report for me now but I have an older one saying I have Aspergers. My friend could get a doctor's letter to say he's legally blind.
To complicate matters, another telemarketer from the same company rang me one weekend and asked if I wanted to go on a half price 9 month broadband offer with unlimited downloads. I said yes and he told me it was changed over.
Then they rang me next week and said it wasn't changed over and that I would have to get my friend's permission to talk to them about the account (which was on my phone line). Eventually that was sorted out so now they say I'm fully responsible for it because I authorised him to set up this account. They cancelled the new request in my name and so I've missed out on the special offer.
So they are using every little trick to wiggle out of saying they made any errors. I'd be prepared to pay the normal monthly fee of $59.95 for that month but not that over $1100.
Perhaps I could try legal aid but they'd probably say my income was a bit too high. Still, it could be worth a try anyway.
Yes, even if I'm stuck with this bill, I want to see something done to prevent other people from being caught out the same way.
I think there should be legislation to outlaw the use of fine print in advertising but even more importantly, that people are fully informed of their options when they are getting signed up for new accounts.
I would have wanted unlimited broadband from the start because 200 KB a month was way too low. It was misleading and misrepresenting the situation for my friend not to be told about this. He even says he wouldn't have agreed to it.
He is legally blind and not experienced in dealing with pushy salespeople. Even though I don't like using the phone, I've had to learn to be a bit "rude" and hang up on them if they persist after being told I'm not interested. His mum dealt with all that kind of thing and he hates any sort of unpleasantness. He also is very nice and can't be rude to people unless they seriously annoy him.
So anyway, there are a few things yet to do before I give up on this. Someone told me most people just shut up and pay but $1173.00 for one month! That is exorbitant and I'd like to know just what they counted as I only downloaded mp3s.
Timelord, there is another complicating factor now. I believe I am in the middle of a nervous breakdown (related in part to the bill but mostly to other events in my life) and people are still expecting to me to function normally (or as normal as you can get with Aspergers).
I desperately need a rest.
Timelord, thanks. I am a lot better now. Having 2 weeks rest has made a big difference. The telephone thing has been sorted out too. Yay!
Of course, I'm still left with a bit of a dilemma regarding my medication. In about 6 weeks, I'll need another prescription and I'm not sure whether to try for a different doctor in the same surgery I went to before or look for a new doctor altogether.
There's a real GP shortage in QLD. We used to have one of the best free hospital systems in Australia, but thanks to successive state and federal governments since the 1980's, this is no longer the case.
Children with autism seem to get a bit more recognition up here but generally speaking, most of the support is withdrawn before they reach their teen years and it is very common for them to regress when they are older.