My family is really struggling with my younger disabled brother.
He is 25 and has a IQ of 70 and learning difficulties, virtually he just cant grasp the real world and has suffered a lot, including people stealing money from him and forcing him to buy them things because they're "friends". Recently he lost his job of 4 years for damaging fellow workers cars and is on a good behaviour bond for throwing rocks at moving cars a few months back. He has also run off a lot without his phone or wallet and hasn't come home until past midnight. Both my parents are at the wits end, with no idea on what they can do for him, they are more scared he will do something stupid again and end up in jail.
He currently sees a psychologist and attends a social group weekly but it doesn't seem to be helping at all. And has had his medications changed alot without any positives in behavioural change.
If anyone has any names of groups or specialists for him and also support groups for my parents as I feel they think they are the only ones going through this sort of thing. We are based in western Sydney. TIA IMs
dont know how to help disabled brother and parents
dont know how to help disabled brother and parents
Posted in:
Relationships & Marriage, Parenthood Guilt, Behaviour, Aspergers & Autism
1 Replies
Mum to 20 year old ID son here. I'll go through some things some they may already know or have done.
Firstly I'd get in contact with Carers Australia. They are a wealth of information and can put you in contact with local support groups etc.
http://www.carersaustralia.com.au
Secondly if they haven't done so they need to get either guardianship or power of attorney over your brother. I have guardianship of my son because he doesn't have the capacity to sign power of attorney forms or understand them. Research both to find out what is the most relevant. Basically it means I have the right to control his money, medical care, where he lives etc. So I only give him spending money and I look after the rest.
Thirdly I would contact who ever is in charge of disability funding in your state. I think it is ADHC. It's possible your brother qualifies for funding to attend a day options program (runs from approx 9:30 am to 3:30pm). It basically gives him activities to do all day. They are used to young men with behavioural difficulties. They can also make sure he gets straight home by popping him in a taxi home (your brother probably qualifies for taxi vouchers from centrelink. Otherwise they can advise on other possibilities for your brother.
http://www.adhc.nsw.gov.au/individuals
I don't know where he was fired from but if he receives a pension he would be eligible for a supported work placement or sheltered workshop. Most offer some kind of behaviour support hopefully avoiding your brother getting himself in trouble and if he does get in trouble avoiding the police.
If your parents haven't gotten legal advice on how to best keep your brother out of jail I'd probably do that too, just for peace of mind that your doing everything you can.
I would also make sure I was an expert in behaviour management myself. I found the training I did on this and implanting it in to our lives invaluable. I'd look up Positive Behaviour Support, Behaviour Analysis etc. I found the way I got the most out of psychologists etc was making sure I followed there instructions to the letter. So if they gave me a behaviour plan to follow I did it 100% as they described. They could also use things like visual schedules/ social stories etc to help implant rules and information with your brother.
I hope something from that was useful. Good luck