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Post by clazdana on Mar 25, 2017 15:15:23 GMT
Hello, new here. Needing advice about how to support my Son. He is 18, been diagnosed for 6 years. Not on meds as they made him have side effects. Is on anti-anxiety meds, and has depression. He struggled through school, but got 10 A and B grades at GCSE. Of course he had the support of school and CAMHS then. Now he lost his summer job last year, dropped out of college and resigned from his apprenticeship (that was due to discrimination though which my local MP is investigating for us). He is a heavy cannabis user, which he says is self medicating and has been for 5 years. Interventions, visits to doctors/hospital, pleas to the police to come and talk to him, all to no avail. He hates being bored at home but has no motivation to go out and do anything, like he has given up. He can't learn to drive as he has no concentration. Personally I believe his ADHD makes him different, quirky, interesting and I remain as always proud of him for all he does and what he struggles with day to day. My question is, does anyone know if there are apprenticeships available in UK for young adults like him who need more help and support to get and find a job? Or recommend any employers who are very understanding of ADHD in the workplace? It is a big question I know. The cannabis doesn't help but I hope that with a meaningful job or training he will come off it. There is so much support for kids with ADHD out there, it just seems to tail off once they reach adulthood. When he is at home we get in takeaway, put films on, eat snacks and have good talks about how he feels. The older he gets though the more I worry he will stop communicating. Is being unable to function in a workplace typical for an adult with ADHD? Many thanks in advance
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Post by 2fast2furious on Mar 26, 2017 11:50:03 GMT
The only reason I'm not on the dole, eating chocolate all day and playing on the computer is my daughter.
Some of us need something 'greater than self' to get out of bed.
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Post by vagueandrandom on Mar 27, 2017 6:52:34 GMT
Hello, new here. Needing advice about how to support my Son. He is 18, been diagnosed for 6 years. Not on meds as they made him have side effects. Is on anti-anxiety meds, and has depression. He struggled through school, but got 10 A and B grades at GCSE. Of course he had the support of school and CAMHS then. Now he lost his summer job last year, dropped out of college and resigned from his apprenticeship (that was due to discrimination though which my local MP is investigating for us). He is a heavy cannabis user, which he says is self medicating and has been for 5 years. Interventions, visits to doctors/hospital, pleas to the police to come and talk to him, all to no avail. He hates being bored at home but has no motivation to go out and do anything, like he has given up. He can't learn to drive as he has no concentration. Personally I believe his ADHD makes him different, quirky, interesting and I remain as always proud of him for all he does and what he struggles with day to day. My question is, does anyone know if there are apprenticeships available in UK for young adults like him who need more help and support to get and find a job? Or recommend any employers who are very understanding of ADHD in the workplace? It is a big question I know. The cannabis doesn't help but I hope that with a meaningful job or training he will come off it. There is so much support for kids with ADHD out there, it just seems to tail off once they reach adulthood. When he is at home we get in takeaway, put films on, eat snacks and have good talks about how he feels. The older he gets though the more I worry he will stop communicating. Is being unable to function in a workplace typical for an adult with ADHD? Many thanks in advanceĀ
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Post by vagueandrandom on Mar 27, 2017 7:02:48 GMT
Hi !
Your son should try to access adult ADHD services (he should have been transitioned from CAMHS)
Employment is difficult with ADHD. If your son is claiming out of work benefits, he should be able
to access help through disability services or Remploy. There's a service called Access to Work
which provides support.
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Post by marionk on Mar 27, 2017 10:14:44 GMT
Chocolate (dark) can help, but I find it stops working after a few days, rather like caffeine, (except in my case I get nothing from caffeine in the first place, ever! ) Coffee is really good though, (probably) because it's got significant amounts of a natural maoi. Cannabis is also a natural maoi, but has other less desirable actions as well. Regular tobacco cigarettes also have a sh** load of nastiness along with the maoi. (It's not the nicotine that makes them effective for ADHD, so don't bother with nicotine tablets.) Ginkgo is a good one, and turmeric and black pepper, but coffee is easy and nice too. Make sure he is getting plenty of protein, it came as a shock to realise that even on my low carb diet, I wasn't eating enough! (Increasing it still further has definitely helped.) One mug a day is not enough for me though. (I used to have a mug at 11 o'clock for a few years, but then went back to tea only) I switched from 4 mugs of tea a day, to 4 mugs of real coffee, and that does have enough. It's not instantly effective, and if your son gets an instant effect, that's the caffeine. None of these (nor even ADHD meds) 'cure' ADHD, but they do help with the dopamine depletion that so often exacerbates the symptoms. The main thing is that they are legal alternatives for cannabis.
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