-
Why Recreation Belongs in Education, Health, and Community Systems for Individuals with Autism and Other Disabilities
Play and recreation are where many of the most important parts of human development take shape. Through shared activities, people learn how to connect with others, how to manage differences, how to experience themselves to their fullest abilities, and how to feel part of something larger than...
-
Bringing the Arts into Direct Support: How Theatre Programs Empower People with Developmental Disabilities
A career on Broadway isn’t the only way to incorporate a love for theatre into a job. Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) often find meaningful ways to include the arts and performance into their work every day. Shayna Stroh, a DSP at Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE), who has...
-
Using Cell Phones to Increase Independence in the Community for Young Adults with Autism
All individuals deserve to be active members of the community in which they reside. However, independent societal participation for young people with disabilities, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who also have a secondary disability diagnosis (e.g., intellectual disability)...
-
Community Engagement Conference Promotes Partnership Between Autism Researchers and Community
Despite the advancement in autism research, one of the challenges that researchers still face today is engaging low-income, racial/ethnic minority, and non-English speaking families. Underresourced families who work multiple jobs have less time to participate in research; some families do not have...
-
Promoting Community Engagement and Social Connections Through Employment and Volunteering
Most parents, at some point, grapple with worry over how their child will fair. Will they be happy? Will they find meaningful connections? Will they find their passion? This is particularly true for parents of children with autism. Added to typical concerns, like “is my adult child eating their...
-
A Small Village Becomes an Autism Supportive Community
Like many professionals who work with people on the autism spectrum, consultants from Anderson Center Consulting, a division of Anderson Center for Autism (ACA), focus on building skills that will help people be successful when engaging in their communities. Community engagement, after all, is...
-
Strategies for Increasing Social Networking and Job Readiness for Individuals with ASD Through Community Engagement
In the past, opportunities for higher education and exciting career paths within a supportive and safe environment were few and far between for individuals with ASD. These challenges to independence and barriers to employment are now shrinking. We are now able to better equip and support...
-
The Importance of Community-Based Instruction for Individuals with Autism Across the Lifespan
When looking toward the future, most parents hope their children will be happy, healthy, and enjoy a satisfying quality of life. For families with a child with autism, this desire is no different. The Autism Society of America identified nine key indicators to consider for assessing and improving...
-
Home-Based Services as a Means to Increasing Community Engagement in Individuals with Autism
Community engagement is a broad term that is informed by an ecological perspective that one’s behavior is impacted by larger social, cultural and physical environments. Community engagement has been defined as “the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated...
-
Taking a Multi-Cultural Approach to Promoting Autism Awareness
For decades caregivers, practitioners, educators, advocates, and researchers, to name a few, have exhausted resources in promoting autism awareness in their communities (locally, nationally, and globally). According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (2019), the number of individuals diagnosed...
