What Will The Future Be For My ASD Level 3 Child?

Many parents, including myself, worry about the future for their children, especially when they have level 3 autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and an intellectual disability. I've worried a lot about what the future would hold for our son especially when I'm no longer around to oversee his life. I thought you might like to see what it can look like, and give you hope and confidence in your child's future. I have our son's permission to share this.

Andrew has moved out into his own place 2.5 years ago. His house is about 200m from our house and we often see him when we are on our morning walk to the creek. He doesn't share with anyone else. Andrew can't read or write or make some decisions on his own. He has 24/7 support from NDIS as well as still having occupational therapy to help him keep learning his tasks for daily living. He has help to do his shopping and cooking, laundry and cleaning.

His next goal is to learn about money using cash. The ATM often feels like free and unlimited money. So having a budget with the cash, he can learn to decide what he wants to spend money on and what happens when his money runs out.

He has a full week of physical activites as this is his strength area. He plays lawn bowls at the local club, goes to the local gym and does the spin and yogalates classes, plays pool in the evening sometimes, volunteers, rides his bike and goes for walks and visits interesting places with his support workers. He's played many sports over the years such as golf, tennis, cricket, badminton, squash and has had a try at surfing. Many of these activites are free or cost a very small amount.

Yes, I still worry, but as time goes by and I learn to let go and have a great team around Andrew, I worry less. We can go away on a holiday without worrying because we know he's in safe hands and he's happy. His confidence and skills continue to grow with the supports he has.

I hope this gives you hope and confidence for the future for your child and yourself. It won't always be as hard is it might be now. It wasn't easy getting to this place, but it does exist.