I have a son aged 40

[Teddster]

My son aged 40 has learning disabilities he heavily relies on me ,which gives me no time to myself ,I live In Blackpool is there groups he can join to make new friends in this area .because people take of him and use him for his money ,his good nature .

[Jofisher]

I would speak to the local Mencap organisation and the learning disability team at social services and carers U.K. as there’s a LD support group as well. Start there and see how you get on. You can also protect your son from being financially abused speak to social services and your sons bank but your son will need to agree if he has mental capacity.

[Sarah_Mencap]

Hello

I am sorry to hear about this.

Are you in touch with the Blackpool Mencap group? Here are their contact details

86 Whitegate Drive

Blackpool

Lancashire

FY3 9BZ

United Kingdom

01253 399484

[e-mail]

I also found a couple of websites that have lists of accessible activities and groups where your son may be able to make friends (and give you a bit of time to yourself).

> ableize.com/disabled-groups...

> lancashire.gov.uk/children-...

It must be very hard if you are with your son all the time. Being a parent (and a carer) can be exhausting. See if there is local carers group near you. They may be able to offer practical support, and it can be a good chance to meet other families who are in a similar situation.

All the best

Sarah

[Autisticframework]

Day Centre for disabled people?

[LDAutie in reply to Autisticframework]

i second this,i do really hope parents dont think of day centres as abandoning their son/daughter as it can offer so much to us-when you are placed in the right day centre and its started off at one day per week in order to let it become part of our routine and allow anxiety to get less before being introduced to more time at the center,it can help someones independence or confidence grow or help reduce behaviors or improve communication,plus theres the possibility of friendships if its of interest to the person.

day centres can offer things to us that maybe parents,carers and support staff cant such as ASDAN towards independence training-a course i have done several times,it can be adapted for people with upto PMLD.

[LDAutie]

hi Teddster, i am a service user with non verbal classic autism, mild LD and unstable epilepsy.

a while ago when i was looking for special olympics clubs near to my old care home (im in manchester) a special olympics club in blackpool popped up,i rember their only sport offered was ten pin bowling,and i was tempted to beg my staff to take me there in my motability car (ended up going to cheshire east to do boccia,and swimming in cheshire north & west)...however ive had a look on the official site now (after covid19) and it seems the only special olympics training offered in blackpool is swimming-

specialolympicsgb.org.uk/fi...

i dont know if your son woud be interested in swimming training but its quite hardcore the training your put through for swimming but they have the pools laned off based on ability,and there isnt the chance to sit and learn social rules and get to know each other like when training in a form of adaptable bowling called boccia-our group used to spend half an hour at the end sat together having tea/coffee/drink and biscuits and talking to each other about our day if we were able to/wanted to.

there is also the PHAB clubs option ,i hate the name like lots of people do, and i always found my local PHAB club far to much based on socialising so i never went but lots of people from my special college went,its a club thats really aimed at adults with LD,but also adults with physical disabilities who might have LD as well.many of the volunteers have LD themselves,and many use a specialised bus service called ring and ride to take them from door to door so they dont need carers or parents with them.

another option-specialist college,i used to attend one on a daily basis aimed at people who had autism with learning disability with epilepsy, its in cheshire.

however its hard to get funding if its out of your area like it was for me, i had to pay privately.

however, there is one other service you coud access that hasnt been mentioned yet- outreach support, your son woud need social services funding to pay for it, but there are a number of charities who offer outreach-this is where the staff will come to the persons home, do activities,take them out and keep them busy so you can do your own thing,i used to get full time 2-1 outreach support from the national autistic society when i lived at home before going into residential care, as it helped my mum and dad out hugely,however i do know the NAS dont offer outreach anymore as i asked at the autism show a couple of years ago-an old friend/ one of their big managers this and they said they had to cut the service,but im sure others woud offer this service.