Asperger's and Autism: Achieving Independence After High School

As part of this sabbatical project, I have been doing a great deal of writing.   Much of the writing have been notes from reading, or notes from visits with professionals who may be helpful, or thoughts about the tours of programs that work to support young adults who have graduated from high school.   And, a few things I have written I have placed on a public site to be read by parents, faculty and friends of Hill Top Prep. However, this particular piece about growing up is something that I am writing to the current students and the alumni of Hill Top Prep .   I hope that it encourages some thoughts about your own life journey. The title above summarizes a theme I been reading about.   Much of i t comes from a book entitled " Asperger’s and Adulthood" by Blythe Grossberg, Psy.D.   In the beginning of the book, she has a chapter heading with the same title and she implies that there is a real difference between "growing up" (the day to day process...

"The best practices for employers to utilize for employees on the spectrum are good practices for all employees."   "Since I have been working with employees on the spectrum, my skills as a supervisor have greatly improved.....and it's not just me who think that but those I supervise have also told me that." These two quotes come from individuals who work for major international companies that have become committed to neurodiversity and are involved in working with employees who are diagnosed on the spectrum. We know, from the folks at AJ Drexel Autism Institute that less than 60% of people diagnosed with spectrum disorders, nationally, will have a job six years after graduating from high school. What is it that prevents more folks on the spectrum from being gainfully employed? What can prospective employers learn to make a difference? What can folks on the spectrum do to increase the likelihood that they will find a rewarding job and then keep it?...

For the past several years I have enjoyed being a member of the Advisory Board at Drexel University for their DASP program ( Drexel Autism Support Program ).  As one of the only members on this Board from outside the university, I enjoy contributing to the conversation with information from our school, our faculty and our families.  It is also time well spent when I learn about research that is going on at the Drexel Autism Institute , hear about new ways that Drexel is working with its neuro-diverse students, and meet really bright, talented and enthusiastic folks who want to create new opportunities for students like those at Hill Top as they head out into the world. One of the board members is Korbin. He is currently a Master's level student at Drexel in the College of Laboratory Animal Science. Not only does he bring the perspective of living on the spectrum to the Advisory Board but he also is the founding President of Drexel's own Neurodragons.  This is an or...

This week I was involved with an interesting visit to a program merely 2 miles down the road from Hill Top Prep.  Carousel Connections  was created in 2012 by Amy and Chris McCann as "a community of support that walks alongside families as they journey across stages of development." Mainly, this is a summer program of up to six weeks in length.  Families can sign up their young adult to participate for 2 weeks or 4 weeks or all 6 weeks.  Located on the campus of Haverford College during the summer, Carousel Connections provides independent living experiences during the summer but has also grown into offering weekend adventures in which summer participants can sign up to travel together to places such as the Poconos during the Fall and Winter months. They also work on community building and employment opportunities through community service projects as well as supported and customized employment experiences.  Lastly, they work on thinking ahead ...

On a recent visit to the east coast of Florida, I spent a whole morning at the Els Center of Excellence for Autism . Located in Jupiter, Florida, the home of the PGA, Ernie and Liezl Els started this academy and resource center in August of 2015.  The philanthropy of the area and the corporate support from the PGA and those companies associated with it, The Els Center has truly become an amazing facility with rapidly growing resources for individuals with ASD of all ages. Having visited several years ago when they had just begun, I returned with the intention of seeing the new program called, Adult Services.  What an inspiring morning I experienced. Directed by Dr. Kerri Morse, the Adult Services Programs include various opportunities for pre-employment training as well as work experience.  They began with providing work experience for their clients in their first and second year working in the field of hospitality (a considerable market in this part of Florid...

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I had an insightful follow-up phone conversation with Dania Jekel, Executive Director of AANE .  We talked about a number of things but spent a good deal of time on the importance of building partnerships with other organizations and institutions in the community around us. One of the organizations she talked about is called the Simons Foundation .  It sounded very interesting so I did a bit of time on the internet to learn more about them.  Located in NYC, its focus is on supporting efforts in science.  One of the divisions of the foundation is SFARI; Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative which was launched in 2003.  They have awarded over 380 million in grants to more than 400 investigators in the research of autism.  In 2013 they formed the Autism Brain Net which is bringing together programs across the country who are doing research on brain samples from individuals diagnosed with autism who have ...

While in Boston, I also enjoyed a lengthy visit with some new friends at Aspire.  This is a program located in Lexington, Mass at the Lurie Center and is part of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Detailed information about this program can be located at:  www.massgeneral.org/children/aspire The overall mission of Aspire is to provide programs to help children, teens, and adults with high cognitive autism spectrum disorders or related social profiles.  As with other conversations, I focused my time on the adult programs.  In the adult programs, they serve no specific diagnoses but the deficits that each individual presents such as social skills deficits, or emotional issues or executive function issues.  Here again, like AANE, they don't design set programs that clients should fit into but design programs to fit the various strengths and needs of the client.  There are even three separate locations to better meet the needs of clients.  I learned...