Allowances?

[MarianH]

Hello all!

I was having a lurk on chat when I saw a thread had been started about how much allowance to give their child. DD (Asperger's) will be 13 soon, and I am keen for her to have an account with a cash card. She has never had an allowance before. This is partly out of lack of need - she never goes anywhere without us, she doesn't really have friends, she doesn't have a mobile (she had one and never bothered with it). The only thing I can see her spending money on are the dolls she is obsessed with, however I'd still like to try her with and account as she needs to learn about banking and having her own money.

I was hoping some of you, especially with teenagers, might be able to share your thoughts/experiences of allowances and managing bank accounts with your ASC children? Also, if you are happy to share, what the allowance is that you give them? Thanks .

HI Marion,
Although dd is not asc she is adhd. She has a bank account with a debit card. She is useless with money and is one of those kids who will say put it on your card etc. Which is why I have let her do this. I don't give her an allowance as we got her a part time job in helping her with time keeping and responsibility etc. However she couldn't be without her mobile for numerous reasons including me being able to get hold of her so I pay for a contract phone at £15 per month.

Now you have me thinking! My DS2 has ASD and moderate LDs and hasn't got his own account However I believe that at 16 their DLA has to be in their own right so now would be a good time..

I spoke to my local bank a while ago and what we are going to do is to set up a joint account.. that way he can have a card and I can teach him to use it while carefully controlling what goes in and out of the account. He doesn't socialise , goes out only with us etc but I agree it's an important skill to learn.

I will be putting in a small amount to start with..say £10 a week so he can get that out and buy his magazine and chips.. and then increase it out of his DLA slowly:)

DS will be 17 next month he never goes anywhere on his own as he refuses to, I am his appointee for his DLA. He has an account which I put money into for his use but he doesn't know his pin number as he doesn't know the value of money as such, he usually buys a couple of computer games a month with his money.

This is what I suspect will happen with DD. I think I will give her money and she will spend it immediately on living dead dolls (her obsession) and then wait until she is paid again. Because she doesn't have the trappings of a 'normal' social life (mobile, bus fares, trips into town with friends) it's never going to be managing her own money across several costs.

devient I would love for her to have a job for the responsibility but I know she wouldn't cope. However, my DSis suggested that when she is a bit older (and better - she is seriously ill at the moment) she could volunteer at a local charity shop for an hour or two, I could go with her and I could pay her. So I might try and do something like that with her.

At the moment she is so removed from reality, and this is made even worse by the fact that she hasn't been in school since before Christmas. Having an account and money might give her a focus and something that she can control.

Thanks for all of your help with this, it is appreciated .