Children with autism grow into adults. We need more resources and services!!

Twenty one years ago while I was a single parent of twins attending a college with a daycare center on campus, I was approached by a daycare employer who also happened to be a student majoring in child psychology, and and was told that I should consider having my son evaluated for autism. I took the student's advice and then and there the journey began, my son was diagnosed with Autism.

During that time the public was not as aware as they are today of such developmental disabilities, as a matter of fact although, this particular disability had been noticed at and around the 1930’s. During the time my son was diagnosed was about the same time that people were finally starting to hear words such as autistic more frequently. Also, during that time support groups for pervasive developmental disorders were beginning to surface and before I knew it, by the time my son was twelve it had become a very familiar topic among people and the news makers and by the the time he was fifteen, tons of schools and programs were opening all over the country with the focus on children with these kinds of disabilities mostly known as pervasisive developmental disorders.

The one thing that I was not prepared for nor was it emphasized on much, during all of my son's early intervention programs and evaluations, were the challenges that these children would face when they become adults and the challenges and decisions the parent of an adult with autism will have. As you know a person is an adult much longer then a child and with an autistic adult that is a whole different ball game. Although, many of the early intervention programs as well as schools for children with disabilities main focus is to prepare them for adult hood. However, what you are not prepared for is the small amount of resources and programs available for adults with autism or similar disabilities. There is a vast amount of information and resources available for children and that of course is undoubtedly important. But, somehow in this day in age there is a tremendous lack of outlets for adults with autism.

Also, there is very little support for the parents and care givers who care for these adults. These parents such as myself are left with questions and concerns for their adult child’s future. You see, these aren’t the small children that look adorable while doing one of those cute little gestures children do. These are now adults and many of these adults are still doing those cute little things that five year olds do. Many of these adults look absolutely as normal as you and I and for the most part they are but many cannot take public transportation on their own, they do not understand what an Identification card is or a social security card, they also still have great difficulties communicating with others and the list goes on. And because of the lack of services available for these adults, the parents worry, they worry what will become of their son/daughter when they as the parent becomes older or when they are gone. Let me tell you, those are not easy things to think about for us parents of these wonderful adults but a reality, none the less.

In the mean time parents now, such as myself, have to take the initiative and not only be a continuing education instructor and strong advocate for our adult son or daughter. But, also bring awareness to this topic as often as possible to the public. Hopefully five years from now there will be a huge improvement on resources and services available to adults with developmental disabilities.