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The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Adult Autism Fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina: Advancing Direct Care Services to Improve Outcomes
In 2023, about 22.5% of people with a disability in the U.S. were employed, a shocking contrast to their age-matched, non-disabled peers that are employed at 65.8% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). Over the next decade, a significant number of youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),...
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Building a Healthcare Transition Program for Autistic Patients Entering Adulthood
The rise in the diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder in youth will mean a rise in the number of adolescents transitioning to adult medical care. 50,000 youth with autism are estimated to enter adulthood each year (Rast et al., 2020) with varying degrees of communication skills, adaptive...
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Supporting Young Adults: Transitioning to Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities
This fall, I dropped my oldest child off for his junior year of college. For our family, this is always a time of excitement, but also one of trepidation. The transition from high school to higher education, from childhood to adulthood, is full of new and evolving challenges. Those challenges are...
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Research-Based Recommendations for Building Self-Advocacy Competence
Self-advocacy, an essential ingredient in our quest for satisfaction and fulfillment in life, is a learned skill that involves self-awareness, social and communication strategies, and behavioral competencies. Self-advocating involves communicating a person’s needs so that another person is able...
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Considerations for Choosing a College for Students on the Autism Spectrum
Choosing a college requires careful planning. This planning often starts in a student’s freshman year of high school, but usually not later than their sophomore year. When a student is on the autism spectrum, transition planning is a high priority, indeed it is required by law. The Individuals...
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Transition Planning for the Long Haul – Life Beyond College
Parents of students on the autism spectrum and their neurotypical peers begin to think about college as they progress through high school. According to the Department of Labor, students with disabilities who earn a bachelor’s degree are employed at about the same rate as their non-disabled peers...
