It's been a while since I posted but I could do with some MN wisdom or thoughts.
DS is 24 and back at home after graduating two summers ago. He was diagnosed with Autism when he was 7 and back then it was described as "High functioning". I know that all the definitions have changed but basically on a superficial level DS can cope with every day life. He can interact in a fairly neurotypical way for short periods of time, sufficiently so that on first meeting him you wouldn't necessarily know he was Autistic. If you spent more than 30 minutes with him, you probably would.
Behind the scenes, so to speak, he struggles with anxiety, decision making, executive functions and basically cannot cope with more than one issue at a time. He is severely dyslexic and has a long list of specific learning difficulties, all of which mean that he finds the day to day admin stuff of life really challenging.
He is bright and got a good degree and had all sorts of plans about going travelling. He was going to do some temporary jobs and go travelling, but that is getting kicked down the line and he got very down and depressed doing a grueling seasonal job working really long hours in customer facing roles that he struggles with. He has got himself another "temporary" job doing bar work and the travel plans are again kicked down the road. We are now talking or February next year.
He also has a complicated gastric issue, that has been diagnosed but that he is very bad at taking the medication for. He gives me reasons why he doesn't like it and prefers to self-medicate with weed. He has discussed this with his consultant and has a medical dispensation card for this. He also self-medicates by drinking too much. He drinks pretty much every day. I think he uses both to calm the constant stress and anxiety he feels. I hate both, the alcohol almost more than the weed.
Is there any help out there for autistic adults? I know my own anxieties for his future are an issue here too. I think it would be helpful if he could talk to a careers advisor for autistic people or a counsellor who could understand some of his autistic problems, who isn't me. I'm worried that I'm becoming more of a hindrance than help and I'm starting to worry myself into a ball of stress about him and that isn't good for either of us.