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Navigating Lifespan Transitions for Autistic Older Adults: Aging, Independence, and Dignity
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent challenges in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many autistic adults, like Michael, a 61-year-old man diagnosed later in...
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Letting Go, Holding On: Life After Raising an Autistic Son
My war is mostly over, and I miss it terribly. Raising Billy, my son who has autism, was like going through a war, every day a battle. And now he is 33 and he is gone. Not completely gone -- he lives in a group home 10 miles away, and it only takes me 22 minutes to get there. But I no longer...
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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...
