Want to introduce myself

[Guest guest]

Hi - I have a 17-year-old son with AS. I suspect that my husband and my mother also are on the spectrum, too, although they have not been officially diagnosed with anything. I also have two daughters, who are NT, and who are busy with school, dance classes, plus very active social lives. We live near San Francisco.

It took a few years for my son to get the right diagnosis and then it took a few more years before the school district accepted that he really did have AS. The turning point for the district was when my son just could not get out of bed if it was a school day, although he very cheerfully popped out of bed on the weekend. (Hiring a lawyer helped, too.)

My son is currently attending a private high school for kids with AS. He loves his new life and the friends he has made at school. With the support of his school, he is currently taking one course at the local community college and is doing quite well. He was afraid to get out of the car the first few times we were on campus, but now he loves going to his college class and he is proud of his college ID.

He has many fine qualities, but I'm concerned with his lack of social skills and his struggle with everyday tasks that his sisters can do with ease (like shampooing his hair). He just isn't ready to have adult responsibilities. He rarely talks to anyone outside of the family. He relies mostly on gestures, mumbled words, and text messaging with friends. He wears a "uniform" of mostly black, sometimes with white or red shirts. He is extremely picky about food. He is scared to learn how to drive. He has a prescription for Prozac to reduce his anxiety, but he refuses to take it.

After he graduates from high school, we are thinking of having him go to the community college part-time, plus find some kind of social skills class to help him make the leap into adulthood.

I'm looking for help & suggestions from other parents like me. What has worked for you? Anyone out there with a kid like mine? I want him to live independently and have a rich, fulfilling life, but it would be so easy for him to give up and retreat to his bedroom using the computer all day.