Aspie futures

Here we are December already and Xmas rat-a-tat-tatting on the door.
Yes, the shopping is done.
I think.
Hubby did the Chrissy tree and decs while I had the Feral Aspie teen up in Dunolly.
He got his happy on....he trundled about on his treadly, we sang in the choir for the Chrissy carols and he et a delish chicken parma in The Royal Hotel ( cooked by Mine Host, Karen The Kitchen Whizz).

He's been so full of emotions these past few weeks - end of the year irritation picked up from the other kids at school, excitement at school hols, excitement at staying in Dunolly, birthday excitement (he's a whole 15 now, where the hell did those years go??!!) and so on and so forth.
You get the picture - typical Aspie and typical teen coping with all these GINORMOUS churning emotions inside.
But he's been a good kid.
Got his happy on cos of Dunolly.
And wants to get a part-time job.....

But.
We are starting to get scared for his future.
Like any parents we want to see him independent, doing whatever job/work career that floats his boat and coping with Life.
But.
With his Auditory Sensory issues we can't see him coping with even a part-time job after school...he barely takes in the instructions of school lessons or conversations with friends, how much basic Occ Health and Safety will he retain?
He works at a s-l-o-w pace, hurrying him up Does.Not.Work, it only angers him...how many bosses will tolerate a time-poor employee (who has NO concept of time itself) with what they perceive as "attitude" before booting him out?
How many knocks to his self-esteem will he have to cop before something, anything, turns up?

We've even tossed around the mad idea of starting a business in Dunolly just so he could work at his own pace, learn basic safety proceedures at his own pace, work without a boss hanging over his shoulder or the stress and pressure of keeping up.
How to start a business - what business?! - we have not the foggiest.
This would, of course, involve selling my Dad's house and using that money as we are stoney broke and on pensions.
How would we do this with my vision impairment, hubby's dyslexia and lack of car transportation I have NFI.
It seems like an impossibility but there must be a way or something for him.

Hmm, something for researching in the New Year.
Maybe.

Lamination progress huzzah!

So, I've gone a little silly with the laminator.
Weeeell, maybe not so silly.
I've printed up the step-by-step way of having a shower.
Yes, I even reminded him to grab a towel!
Then the step-by-step order to start his day with breakfast, starting with the first step of "No Coke!!!!"
He's a bit of a fiend for that, self-medicating with the caffeine for his ADHD plus once he does something it gets cast in concrete that he Must.Do.It.The.Exact.Same.Way.Every.Time.
Has to have a glass of fizzy lolly water (coke, Fanta, Sarsaparilla, Root Beer, Dr Pepper, lemonade, etc) right before Every.Single.evening meal.
Sometimes he'll have just finished drinking water or juice but the OCD kicks in and he almost turns magenta arguing for his precious glass of fizzy soft drink.
I digress.
I've printed up small business card-sized prompts for him to tuck into his wallet; one states that he has Asperger's, Tourette's, ADHD, OCD and anxiety, asking the person to be patient with him, with an autism ribbon to underscore the message.
Another is a prompt card for when he has a panic/anxiety attack, with suggestions of focusing on Pokemon, Doctor Who, etc, taking deep breaths, that kind of thing.
Another is a prompt card for beginning a conversation with a new acquaintance, how to share the conversation with the other person rather than dominate it with his own hobbies/interests, etc.
I've also printed up the order of getting down to work with his textbooks; some days his head is off in la-la land and he can take hours to do what he can finish within 30 mins some days.

Bizarrely, these are the exact same things we chant to him every day yet, because he is such a visual learner, reading them in black and white has already helped him get his work done with no angst and he's thrown his medication down his throat with greater speed than seen on Usain Bolt on a track.
He's never been one for the social stories or picture prompts but these lists have really clicked with him.