I have a 23-yr-old son (Brady) who has been mildly developmentally delayed since birth. His father and I divorced when he was six, and as I was at the time an undocumented resident (I'm from Canada and was married to a US citizen - thinking that made me legal).
My ex-husband threatened me with deportation if I didn't sign over primary physical custody of our 4 children to him. That's where Brady's mental, verbal and physical abuse nightmare began. CPS was called on my ex-husband multiple times, and each time he was able to convince them that Brady's delay caused him to be somewhat deluded and confused. Only once was he removed from the home.
When he turned 11, his father packed up his things and brought him to me saying that he just couldn't deal with him anymore, but still required weekly visitation, so Brady's ordeal continued. When he turned 21, Brady finally cut off all ties with his father, but the damage was done. He had graduated high school, held down a full-time job for a year, gone to Job Corps and gotten a CNA license.
Unfortunately, Brady has been unable to secure a job in the 3 years since he returned from Job Corps, although not for lack of trying. He recently developed a friendship with a 24-yr-old with Asperger's, and we decided to have Brady thoroughly evaluated again (which hadn't been done since he was 16). The results came back this week: although Asperger's/autism has not been ruled out, the symptoms of severe PTSD and DPD make any further diagnosis impossible.
We are committed to continuing to support him in every way possible; one of the biggest obstacles to his progress right now is that he doesn't have a driver's license despite having his permit for 2 years. Aside from a select few, he doesn't trust males (for obvious reasons), and that's all that seems to be employed by the majority of driving schools. Any suggestions for the best way to support my son and help him take the steps toward the independence he craves would be welcome.
My ex-husband threatened me with deportation if I didn't sign over primary physical custody of our 4 children to him. That's where Brady's mental, verbal and physical abuse nightmare began. CPS was called on my ex-husband multiple times, and each time he was able to convince them that Brady's delay caused him to be somewhat deluded and confused. Only once was he removed from the home.
When he turned 11, his father packed up his things and brought him to me saying that he just couldn't deal with him anymore, but still required weekly visitation, so Brady's ordeal continued. When he turned 21, Brady finally cut off all ties with his father, but the damage was done. He had graduated high school, held down a full-time job for a year, gone to Job Corps and gotten a CNA license.
Unfortunately, Brady has been unable to secure a job in the 3 years since he returned from Job Corps, although not for lack of trying. He recently developed a friendship with a 24-yr-old with Asperger's, and we decided to have Brady thoroughly evaluated again (which hadn't been done since he was 16). The results came back this week: although Asperger's/autism has not been ruled out, the symptoms of severe PTSD and DPD make any further diagnosis impossible.
We are committed to continuing to support him in every way possible; one of the biggest obstacles to his progress right now is that he doesn't have a driver's license despite having his permit for 2 years. Aside from a select few, he doesn't trust males (for obvious reasons), and that's all that seems to be employed by the majority of driving schools. Any suggestions for the best way to support my son and help him take the steps toward the independence he craves would be welcome.
