I am not sure how long my son had been thinking and planning,

But in late 2022 he announced that he wanted to go to university.

After leaving school at the beginning of the pandemic he went on to do a college course, he chose the subject whilst still at school,and before, there was any whisper or indication that the whole world and everyone in it, would be subject to a deadly virus, forcing us to live our lives in an extremely restricted way.

Said course was media and broadcasting focusing on working with cameras. He has always enjoyed making short films and is fascinated by films how they are made and so on. This particular course however focused on the theory more than the practical, and as the majority of his course was conducted at home sat at his computer he began to become demotivated. But not one to sit on his laurels he looked around for something else he could do.

He found a course in the north of England for a degree in photography. Which he duly applied for. All of this was done online from application to interview, he was successful and he started his course in September of 2023.

 But more worrying than this in the months leading up to this he seemed to be becoming more animated and excitable, it seems that for many years he had not been happy about being autistic and that for years he had been hiding it as best he could and as his new life was approaching, he was preparing to reinvent himself.

As if somehow this would exorcise the demons of the past, you might think that 'demons' is a strong word but after many conversations with him, I have begun to realise that he was facing some fierce bullying at school just for being different , ( maybe his good looks and his side ways look at the world annoyed the cool kids) I don't know.

Hence his reason to start a new life in another town, perfectly understandable you would say. 

The questions on my mind however were; Is he ready for this ? Is he prepared ? Have I taught him enough? Will he be able to hack it out there in the world.

Well he is half way through his course and passing his grades, making new friends, exploring religion of all things and to my mind he is safe because he is living in student halls and will be for the duration of his course and a little beyond, work and a career seem to be beckoning, as the university have lined him up with some photography work.At present he is surviving on a student loan and a top up from me.

The great thing about student halls is that all your costs are included so the residents only have to worry about one payment per month, quite different from the realer world. 

And therein lies his next big challenge ( In my mind anyway ) Watch this space.

 I would venture yesterday 

So I guess the question on all our minds is ; Will my autistic child make it in the world ? How can we know? I would say some are more lucky than others some may continue to display autistic behaviour but not enough for it to interfere with day to day living, some may always need support of some kind ,but that might not necessarily  have to come from the parents.

Employers can support their autistic workers, for the benefits can be felt by both parties. Autistic people make great workers , diligent, attention to detail ,and follow instructions to the letter.

Some autistic people are supported by their partners. They prepare them for the working day, in such a way as to mask their autism, some are simply accepted by their colleagues.

But it is not always so straight forward 

At the moment in this country, it would seem like, there are no systems in place to facilitate autistic people into employment,by employers, that is to say employers recognise that autism exists, and that they have an obligation to employ people with autism , but when it comes right down to it. At time of interview 'human resources' are not properly prepared. 

There are Autistic Charities and government departments, set up to support people with autism to get into work. But it seems like they are not working well with employers because if they were more autistic people would be in work and more employers would know how to recognise an autistic applicant and how to interview and support them into working for their company.

My son; and I am sure many like him are very reluctant to reveal their autism diagnosis , although in an interview situation, after a few minutes the interviewer will start to observe behaviour not normally experienced in these kind of meetings. This is where the charities and government should come into play, be it seminars, video calls , legislation. Basically gently bombarding employers with all the information they need to improve the opportunities of our autistic population.

Given that autism is on the increase 1% of the worlds population, more than one in a hundred in the UK.

Something has to be done , I would venture yesterday.