Anyone any experience or willing to give advice on what to do with a teenager no longer in education?  My 17 years old nephew had to finish school suddenly after summer terms as his school closed.  He got a place at local college, but could not cope.  He is dyslexic, has ADHAD, dyspraxia and a whole lot of others small problems like this.  Very immature for his age, and missed out on most of his educatin due to late recongnition of his problems.  Is there now an equivalent of what used to be the careers service?  Do schemes like the YTS placement still exist?  He has been to the job centre who says they cant deal with him till he is 18, and to another gov. agency  whose name I have forgotten, who wanted £3.50 to register him, and then said best thing to do would be go back to college to sit GCSEs!  This is just not an option.  Also anyone any ideas if youngsters with his sort of problems can be registered disabled?  Any help or tips greatfully received.  Nephew getting nervy and insecure, his Mum stressed out and angry. 
bye
Gwen

Hi Gwen

I have mailed a friend who I know from another site who works for a charity who helps people with learning difficulties find work, courses etc. I have given her this link and asked if she would mind giving some advice :)

I am sure she will be along soon ;)

Lucy
xx

He needs to contact the local careers office as the Job Centre Plus offices were the jobs are advertized don't cover under 18's & any advise they give should be treated with caution. They told my cousin who is very sick young man when he rang them to tell them he was in hospital awaiting a serious operation that they would sort everything out for him. they did that alright they simply stopped his JobSeekers allowance & forgot to advise him re the Incapacity Benefit !! When he queried what he should do they told him nothing to do with us ! Eventually after 3 years we got all his money sorted out so tell him to ring or go to the Careers Office & maybe take an adult(Mum etc)with him so that he gets their support & makes sure he understands what they advise as it can be very daunting for youngsters not used to dealing with officals

Work placements do still exist but they are not called YTS anymore. If he is classed as haviing Learning disabilities or difficulties he could come under the rules for Incapacity Benefit(youth)The careers office do not charge so where he was refered by the JC+ people I don't know. Depending on his home circumstances & health problems there is possibility also of Income Support.

This link may help & here as well

What used to be the carreers service is now called connections.  they work with the last two years with kids in school and school leavers.  While in school they are the ones that arrange work expereince etc, and hae all the stuff for 16 to 18 year olds re traingin and work.

Unfortunately he can't claim benefit until 18, but there is an allowance for kids whose parents are on low income to help with staying in education.

was he statmented at school if so then you can use that to get him into a college course thats base on there learning abilities these give them a chance to do work placements untill they are comfortable in the work place and also the skills to get and hold down a job he will get an allowance to help there are government agencies who help kids with those sort of problems we have already been down this road with my son who is now in full time work and holding down a job he likes I would start with connections or youth services they will be able to point you in the right direction

Barbara he can claim benefits if he comes under certain criteria thats why I gave the link to the DWP page(one of my friends is a young persons advisor) & it's something that people who have not been in the benefits system don't know about & often lose out on because the JC+ Job Centre people don't do there job properly(one family lost £9.000 over 3 years as the Job Centre tolld her that she should keep her Child Benefit for her Autistic son & he couldn't have any other money) Believe me I know

Hi Gwen,

My job is helping people with Disabilities and health problems find and sustain employment.  As Moonmaiden says, the first thing he should do is sort out his benefits situation to make sure he is getting all he is entitled to.  Since the Disability Discrimination Act there is no longer a registration of people with disabilities, rather a person is considered disabled according to the law if they meet the criteria laid down in the act.  Have a look Here and you will be able to see a breakdown of the definition of disability.

The Unit that I work for takes referrals from the Jobcentre, health professionals etc, but we also take self referrals. It may be that there is something similar in the area your nephew lives in.  The Association of Supported Employment website, which can be seen
Here , has a member locator.  You could see if there is a member organisation in his area and give them a ring to find out if they take self referrals.  If they don't, ask them from whom they do take referrals; it may be a GP can refer him, or similar. 

Also, although the Jobcentre Plus say they can't help him because he is not 18, the Disability Employment Advisor in his local Jobcentre should still be able to see him and offer assistance.  To make contact with the DEA, phone the Joobcentre, ask to speak to them and make an appointment for him to see him/her.

I hope this helps, but if there is anything more you would like to know, please feel free to PM me :)

Lesley

HI Gwen, your nephew needs to see a Connexions Special Needs Advisor.  Not just the regular type but one who can specialise in helping a young person who has the difficulties that this chap has.  The most important thing will be does he have a Statement of Special Education Need?  Has he been 'statemented' at school?  If he has, that will make life so much easier for him with regards to getting help.

EMA (education maintenance allowance) is a grant available for those students who stay on at school post 16+ but it is means tested and you do have to fulfil certain criteria.

I agree with the advice offered by Lesley but a good way of referral will be via Connexions but it might be more appropriate for a Connexions PA to offer advice re: further education.  There are alternatives to academic based courses e.g. a lifeskills course which might prepare him for the big wide world in a more gentle way.

Good Luck

Good point Jackyjat - there are certainly College courses which may be more appropriate for him than an academic course :)  The important thing is that the young man is able to tap into all the help and support available to him and so have a variety of choices available to him.  That way he will feel much better about himself and his Mum will be able to chill out :)

Unfortunately, in my work we see a lot of people who have "slipped through the net" as youngsters and whose self worth has been decimated by years of frustration at not being able to work or study further.  And all because nobody helped them or they didn't know where to go to get the support they needed. Thankfully, Gwen's nephew will be able to avoid this trap and will be able to get himself onto a path to the type of life he wants :)

Lesley

Thanks you so much evryone for all the info and links - it will kepp me busy for the next couple of days, but I hope I will be able topint him in some useful direction.  Will keep you update on any advance in the situatuin,  To those who asked, yes he was statementd at school I(eventually) and is on Ritalin.
bye
Gwen

Hi Gwen

Was asked to pop over to see if I could offer any advice.  A lot of good stuff has already been said; not sure what more I could tell you.  I work for a charity that helps people with learning disabilities get education and various forms of work: work experience, voluntary or paid work depending on their needs and wants.  We only deal with over 18s but I do have a lot of clients who are in college on courses catering for people with special needs.  I don't deal with learning difficulties per se but I do have a client with dyspraxia. 

Unfortunately late recognition of problems still exists even now when awareness of the existence of these issues is a lot better than it was many years ago.  Your nephew is fortunate in that he has obviously has these conditions diagnosed and so is in a position now to take appropriate steps to help himself.  I would go with Connexions as has been said; they work with people up to the age of 18 but for people with further needs they will continue to work with them until the age of 25.  I am surprised he doesn't have a Connexions adviser already as in the area I cover it is standard that school students are assigned a Connexions adviser.

There is nothing legally nowadays to "register someone as disabled."  This unfortunately harks back to after the war and has a lot to do with government and company statistics and so on and simply doesn't exist now.  As has been said already, it would be wise to check that he is receiving the correct benefits and the main one in this case would be DLA or Disability Living Allowance.  Anyone of any age can claim this, and it is not means-tested; thus he could potentially receive it whether he was working, not working, or receiving any other benefits. The spectrun has now been widened so people with learning needs are encompassed in receiving DLA but the form is notoriously hard to complete successfully; only 50% are granted DLA on their first application but if this were the case then appealing would be a great thing as you would be very likely to get it granted then as if the person at this second stage were to refuse it again they have to write a seven-page explanation of why they are refusing - more work for them you see...

There should be a college in yr nephew's area who offer courses or advisors that deal specifically with people with special needs and this would be yr nephew's way into further education.  A Connexions advisor or another body should really be the people who would be able to organise this as he really shouldn't have to go about this himself.  I'm not sure specifically which other agencies deal with under 18s but I can find out for you if you would like?

I hope that is of some help - if I think of anything more I will post back later.

Best wishes
Jo.

Just to reiterate for Gwen's benefit as well as others:

Each Connexions area will have a Special Needs Connexions PA, who deals specifically with those people who need that bit of extra help and consideration re their placement (college or work).

Each local sector college should try and accomodate the needs of students with special learning needs, but they can't always do so effectively (as in this case) but there are colleges who deal specifically with special needs students and details of these can be found at [link] www.natspec.org.uk [/link]

There are advocacy organisations in most areas who can support people with applications for DLA or Incapacity Benefit.

The one place that should offer advice and support to people with particular needs is social services.  They have a statutory obligation to offer a community care assessment which will identify areas in which extra support is required, e.g. with medication, assessment, living arrangements, skills, education and support.  Notoriously hard to get, but often the key to the door.  People tend to view having a social worker as a negative thing, infact it can be the only way through a minefield of difficulties.

For anyone on Ritalin, discuss the possibility of changing to Concerta.  This is a slow release version of Ritalin which eliminates the peaks and troughs throughout the day and when medication is due.  One tablet in the morning lasts all day (often - not always), I am always surprised that medical practitioners are often way behind the times when it comes to recommending this is it can make a tremendous difference.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Jo and Jackjat for the extra advice.  He did have a connexions adviser at school, but as the school closed he lost the contact.  Will follow advice and let everyone know how we get on
bye
Gwen