Am desperately worried and have no idea what to do

[lilybetsy]

My eldest DS is almost 18. He has Asperger's, which is most obvious in poor social communication, with peers and adults. He has always been in mainstream education, and it seems to take teachers etc quite some time to get a handle on his disabilities because he is so articulate. His difficulties seem to ge more marked the older he gets and the more peers 'grow up' and mature .

He did no work for GCSE and failed all but 3. He went back to college to repeat, did no work again and may scrape one of the 5 he sat. He will not get the others as he did not complete the course work .

He spends all his time with his horrible girlfriend, she is 2 years older and manipulative in the extreme. When I called her on it she tried to hit me. She has been kicked out of her own home and lives on a mates sofa ... This is where DS spends all of his time. I do not give him money (since college ended) he doesn't seem to care.

He is applying for jobs or apprenticeships, but has so few qualifications and does it so inadequately that we are getting nowhere. even the ones I complete are basically non starters . He has fallen in with the 'wrong crowd' of wasters, and is never at home so I can't help him. He contributes nothing at all to this house, and lies ALL the time.

He is dishonest, steals and lies. But hes my son, I love him and I want to help, I just have no idea where to start

has anyone any thoughts? I can see a wasted life on benefits and achieving nothing if things dont change

[TheSecondOfHerName]

Hi there. Sorry to hear that you're having such a worrying time with him. This section of the board is very quiet, so if you don't get many responses then you could try posting the same thing in the general Teenagers' section (in 'Being a Parent'). There are several of us there (me included) who have teenagers with AS, and there are a few experienced old hands who have wise advice to offer.

[saaa]

Hi , I've just read your message and felt desperately for you. And feel terrible that you wrote all of this and received not one message back. Could you try CAB, or the NAS, they have been very supportive of me at times. National Autistic society have a helpline, where they will phone you back. They have been brilliant. My son is 13 and hates school.