-
Taking Learning Out of the Clinic and Into the Community
When working with youth and young adults on the autism spectrum, professionals and parents are often faced with the daunting task of teaching life skills. These skills can include grocery shopping, stranger awareness, everyday cleaning, and self-care. Youth and young adults often need to be taught...
-
The Benefits and Challenges of Housing for People with ASD in a Post-Facility World
Group Homes, a housing model that began in the 1960s and ‘70s, were a tremendous improvement on the dismal institutional settings that they largely superseded. Created by a partnership between the state and “voluntary” agencies, the goal of the group home model was that people with autism and...
-
The Creation of a Model Independent Living Program: The POINT Program of White Plains, NY
One of the most perilous times in the lives of young adults on the spectrum is the transition from the stability and structure of school to lives away from their parents’ homes - lives with as much independence as possible. I know this road well because I am the mother of a young man with an...
-
Affordable Housing Advocacy: An Approach to Success
The question that keeps ASD parents awake at night: “Where will he/she live when I am no longer able to provide a home?” Questions and emotions swirl around whenever housing is the topic of any discussion: “It’s scary.” “It’s complicated.” “There are so many factors to...
-
What is Normal?
Nearly every day someone asks me something like, “When did you know that Jack wasn’t normal?” And then they stop themselves, stammer a bit, and apologize for saying normal. Their faces turn all red and they look away and stare at their feet. “I mean, you know, what’s normal, there is no...
