Asperger's services That I wished I had

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I feel so ugh. I just found out that the autism agency that I have been in for the past several years is now starting a separate program for people with Asperger's. I went to go ask if I can be in it, but they are only taking people ages 18-25. I am 30 and will be 31 in November. It is separate from the "regular" part and will be in another building. Because people with Asperger's are not covered under the "developmental disability" funding, they would not qualify for the regular day program, plus they are too high functioning to receive the traditional developmentally disabled services.
The new program start in September, which will have career assessments. Then after the career assessment, the person will choose what career they will want. The program will train the person for their career. They will also offer social skills, as well. All of the things that I asked for in the first place, but because they did not have them, I got stuck with the wrong services for adults on the classic/lower functioning end of the autism spectrum, where they do not offer any of these things.
I feel so gypped it is not even funny. The sad thing is I am going to school in September in order to get away from the "traditional" day program because it was not suitable for someone who is able to work a full time job. Plus, all they did all day was sit in a unit and do nothing. The only training they offered was when there was piecework or anything else available, they would "teach" the clients how to do it. they did not have any job skill training program what so ever. They did have a job class, but it did not teach "job skills". All the clients did was sit in a room, where the 'teacher" and the clients talked about what jobs they wanted. But the only thing the "teacher" taught was about hygiene(why you need to shower before and/or after work). Unfortunately, the clientele were not as high functioning, so that they would not be able to have a real "job" , so that is why they do not have the kinds of job skills training that a person with Asperger's needs. Most of those clients only had cleaning jobs. When they did get a job, the only training they got was to how to learn the tasks needed for the actual job they were doing by a job coach. They did not learn the other important stuff. That was what they did to me, when i got a job. When i worked in a factory, they just told me how to put the papers and materials in the bags and that was it. Since that was easy, i did not need a job coach for that. they did not teach me how to interact with the other co-workers, nor any of the important stuff, like work ethics and all of the other things one needs to survive in any job.
So pretty much I feel gypped out of 8 years of my life and I wish they had this sooner. I feel like I got played by someone or something. I hope this does not happen to any of you. My advice is that if you are looking into an agency or any help with job skills, look carefully. there is a big difference when it comes to job skills for Asperger's and/or HFA, than it is with job skills for a mentally ret*d and/or low functioning person. Well, in my area, anyway.
Good Luck to you all.

Hi. Are you in the UK? (It's very important to state your country because of legal differences and so many people don't!) The 2005 Disability Discrimination Act removed the requirement for mental conditions to be "clinically well-recognised". (Most people only know about the 1995 DDA). For people with Asperger's not to be covered under developmental disability funding could well be in breach of the updated legislation. I would therefore urge you to check out the 2005 DDA and guidelines pertaining to it.

Hi,
Actually I am in The United States. Here depending on the state, the rules are different. Even though Asperger's is covered by Social Security, where I can get a disability check each month, in my state it is not covered for any services. That is why they did not have anything for people with Asperger's. the closest thing they had was that Autism agency, but to get into it, even though in the autism agency's records i have the Asperger's diagnosis, when it came time to get funding for the state, they had to put down "autism with mental retardation", even though I have no learning disabilities, nor mental retardation. That was the only way they do things in my state. In my state they actually separate Asperger's from Autism, because there are differences with both diagnosis where autism is considered severe enough(even high functioning autism) to receive lifelong services. Asperger's is not severe and most people with Asperger's according to the state(especially in my case) do not need the kind of lifelong supports and/or needs as someone with Autism.
Because of that the Asperger program is not funded by the state. It is actually being funded by a federal Grant program. A couple of the the state's politicians who are United States senators and Representatives are the ones who created the grant for our state. Supposedly, I just found out, even though I was told that they have been working on it for the past couple of years, but they did not tell me until yesterday. I would have taken advantage of it, but again it is only for ages 18-25, but I wish I did not have to go to school. Even though I am 30, but I wish I could get them to let me in because they do "owe" me 8 years of inappropriate services, so that way i could have got a job that way.