18 yo son with aspergers/autism

[Tigger2016]

Do any fellow MN have 18 yo with A/A that have moved out and live independently? My son ( attends mainstream college with support ) and I can't imagine him ever moving out ( am thinking of moving to somewhere where he can have a 'granny flat' ( poss garage conversion? ) as there's no where I can do this where I am now) - just pondering ......

[MeadowHay]

Hello, I'm only 22 and maybe my situation is much different from your son's as ASC can affect everyone so differently, but for what it's worth I moved into catered halls for uni not long before I turned 19. From 2nd year of uni onwards my husband, who at the time was my boyfriend, transferred to a uni in the same city of mine so we could live together, we shared a room in a house-share with other students for a year, then have been renting our own flat. So I don't have a great amount of time of being completely alone because I was only living alone for one year (and to be honest I did not do so great :/ ). I also have another friend with Asperger's who is 25 and stayed living at home with her mum and younger siblings until last year, she did a degree at a uni in her home city, then she bought a house with her boyfriend last year and they are getting married soon.

Also it is getting increasingly more common for young people to stay living at home for extended periods of time anyway because of how expensive rent and things is, my BIL is 25 and just in the process of getting a mortage with his fiancé of the same age, they are both planning to move out of their mums' houses very soon but have stayed both of them at home until now.

[potatoscowls]

I'm 18 years old, at college, autistic and lucky enough to live independently in a studio flat. It's hard to generalise because every autistic person is so different - personally, I can't NOT live independently, as living with others generally drives me to the point of nervous breakdown.
HTH

[SENPARENT]

When our son was 18 we couldn't imagine him moving out . We had visions of being two old dears with the 40 year old adult son tagging along everywhere with us in years to come (yikes!!) But when he had a social services assessment three years ago,the social worker told us she was quite certain that he would be able to live away from us , either independently or semi-independently with support.
Our son is now 21 and still living at home but I can see that in time he will be able to live away from us. He has some independent living skills now - he can make hot drinks and snacks, change his bed, dust/hoover his room after a fashion, catch a bus to a familiar place, and use a mobile phone, and we are hoping he will be able to go to a residential college where he can build on these skills and then live independently/semi independently.
I really loved that social worker. She made me see my son was capable of so much more than I thought.

[CheeseCake2016]

My 23 year old moved out 3 months ago to a rented bedsit. The arguments had got too much and we felt this was the best for all the family. We all get along better now, he stays at home 2 nights each week and I visit him during the week to check things are OK. I still do the washing and freeze meals for him but hopefully I will gradually be able to back off.