Can
Adults with Autism Live Independent
Lives?
The
majority of adults with autism
need lifelong training, ongoing supervision,
and reinforcement of skills. The public
schools' responsibility for providing
these services ends when the person
is past school age. As the child becomes
a young adult, the family is faced
with the challenge of creating a home-based
plan or selecting a program or facility
that can offer such services.
In
some cases, adults with autism can
continue to live at home, provided
someone is there to supervise at all
times. A variety of residential facilities
also provide round-the-clock care.
Unlike many of the institutions years
ago, today's facilities view residents
as people with human needs, and offer
opportunities for recreation and simple,
but meaningful work. Still, some facilities
are isolated from the community, separating
people with autism from the rest of
the world.
Today,
a few cities are exploring new ways
to help people
with autism hold meaningful jobs
and live and work within the wider
community. Innovative, supportive
programs enable adults with autism
to live and work in mainstream society,
rather than in a segregated environment.
By
teaching and reinforcing good work
skills and positive social behaviors,
such programs help people live up
to their potential. Work is meaningful
and based on each person's strengths
and abilities. For example, people
with autism with good hand-eye coordination
who do complex, repetitive actions
are often especially good at assembly
and manufacturing tasks. A worker
with a low IQ and few language skills
might be trained to work in a restaurant
sorting silverware and folding napkins.
Adults with higher-level skills have
been trained to assemble electronic
equipment or do office work.
Based
on their skills and interests, participants
in such programs fill positions in
printing, retail, clerical, manufacturing,
and other companies. Once they are
carefully trained in a task, they
are put to work alongside the regular
staff. Like other employees, they
are paid for their labor, receive
employee benefits, and are included
in staff events like company picnics
and retirement parties. Companies
that hire people through such programs
find that these workers make loyal,
reliable employees. Employers find
that the autistic behaviors, limited
social skills, and even occasional
tantrums or aggression, do not greatly
affect the worker's ability to work
efficiently or complete tasks.
Like
any other worker, program participants
live in houses and apartments within
the community. Under the direction
of a residence coach, each resident
shares as much as possible in tasks
like meal-planning, shopping, cooking,
and cleanup. For recreation, they
go to movies, have picnics, and eat
in restaurants. As they are ready,
they are taught skills that make them
more personally independent. Some
take pride in having learned to take
a bus on their own, or handling money
they've earned themselves. Job and
residence coaches, who serve as a
link between the program participants
and the community, are the key to
such programs. There may be as few
as two adults with autism assigned
to each coach. The job coach demonstrates
the steps of a job to the worker,
observes behavior, and regularly acknowledges
good performance. The job coach also
serves as a bridge between the workers
with autism and their co-workers.
For example, the coach steps in if
a worker loses self-control or presents
any problems on the job. The coach
also provides training in specific
social skills, such as waving or saying
hello to fellow workers. At home,
the residence coach reinforces social
and self-help behaviors, and finds
ways to help people manage their time
and responsibilities.
At
present, about a
third of all people with autism
can live and work in the community
with some degree of independence.
As scientific research
points the way to more effective therapies
and as communities establish programs
that provide proper support, expectations
are that this number will grow.
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