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When Systems Don’t Fit: Navigating Lifespan Transitions for People with Profound Autism
Every year, in every state, hundreds more individuals with Profound Autism age out of educational services and enter the adult services system. This process is described by many as “falling off a cliff.” Families despair of finding services that will allow their adult child to maintain their...
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Supporting Neurodivergent Children in the Transition from Pediatric to Adult Healthcare
Families of neurodivergent children, such as those with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning differences, often find themselves having to fiercely advocate for every service they need across medical, behavioral health and...
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Building Futures: Transition Planning and Success for Autistic Youth at StarUnite Café
While many children on the autism spectrum receive individualized education planning and interventions to support their successful achievement throughout their kindergarten, elementary and high school years, it is equally important to plan for success throughout adulthood. Some adults with autism...
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From Children’s Program to Adult Residential Care: Navigating Systems and the Hurdles of Transition
The transition from pediatric services to adult residential care for those on the autism spectrum is a complicated process. Educational systems, healthcare providers, social service agencies, and housing authorities all have a hand in this transition. However, the significant shift is from a system...
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When School Ends: The Hidden Crisis Facing Adults with Profound Autism
For nearly two decades, our mornings have been marked by the familiar sound of a school bus pulling up in front of our home. The doors hiss open, followed by a greeting from the bus driver as they pull Philip’s wheelchair onto the platform. The bus would rumble away, leaving behind a silence that...
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Beyond Fun: How Summer Programs Build Executive Function, Social Confidence, and Independence
Summertime has so much potential. With more flexible schedules and a break from traditional classes, your student can focus on what matters most in their season of development. Autistic elementary age children and middle schoolers may benefit from additional focus on building or practicing social...
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Fostering Safety and Stability for Autistic Adults During the Transition from College to Career
For many young adults, the shift from college to career is a time of excitement and possibility. But for autistic adults, it can also bring a unique set of challenges, especially when systems of support that existed in educational settings begin to fall away. Without intentional planning,...
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My Son Turns 21: Autism, Milestones, and Growing Up
The restaurant is busy. Someone at the table behind us laughs loudly. Outside, a spring drizzle falls from the sky. May. A fickle month in New England. Yellow sun one day, metallic clouds the next. My son Jack sits next to his father. He studies the menu, sliding his finger along the drink...
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Supporting Families to Prepare Students to Be Participating Members of Their Community
For over five decades, I’ve had the privilege of serving students with autism and developmental disabilities and their families. I’ve been employed as a teacher, administrator, professor, consultant, and advocate in public, private, nonprofit, and for-profit settings, working in preschools,...
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Helping Families with Disabilities Transition from Child to Adult Systems of Care
Having a child diagnosed with a lifelong disability is like planning a trip to one country, but unexpectedly arriving in a different country (read Emily Perl Kingsley’s essay Welcome to Holland). Just imagine, you have nothing packed that would make the trip easier or more comfortable, and you do...
