At 18, you are now legally in control of your own life… exciting, huh?
YES! There are many decisions that you can now make on your own. But wait! There is a bit more to it...
Once you are 18, the law says you are responsible for ALL the choices, the decisions and agreements you make.
As an adult, you are expected to know the rules and the law. ‘Not knowing’ the rules and the law will not excuse you for breaking the law. It’s important to have the right knowledge and support.
Part of living with FASD is the difficulty of knowing how to respond to adult-world information to make good choices and decisions. Planning for the results, or consequences, of those choices can be difficult too. It’s important to know how to ask for help and set yourself up for success.
It’s ok to ask for help. In fact, everyone needs some help when starting out in the adult world.
Remember – it’s better to ask someone for help BEFORE making a tricky decision, rather than needing to ask for help when you’re in trouble!
Adulthood comes with many decisions that must often be made quickly and may often have serious consequences if you get it wrong.
Some consequences of getting things wrong may include:
- losing your place to live
- owing money you can’t afford to pay back
- missing deadlines and missing out
- being stuck in contracts you don’t want to be in
- paying fines
- losing your stuff (possessions)
- getting in trouble with police, facing court and maybe even jail.
So being prepared with information and support to deal with these decisions helps to navigate clear pathways to success.
It’s true that as an adult you can do many things without asking permission, it’s also true that we all need guidance when learning how to live in the adult world.
This is especially true if you’re living with FASD. It can be confusing!
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