Can't resist more of this excellent series from Columbus Dispatch. They are totally on the mark. While there are plenty of children with autism and other developmental disabilities, they eventually become adults. Then what?
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As a preschooler, Daniel Coffey drove the wheels off his battery-powered car.
His parents wrote the manufacturer for spare parts, again and again, so that their youngest son - autistic, obsessive-compulsive and afflicted with a dash of Tourette's syndrome - could perfect his parallel parking.
That stubborn focus provided early clues about how much Daniel loved to master a task.
"He wants to get things just right," said his mom, Venta. "Daniel appreciates a job well done."
The Canal Winchester family worked for years to nurture his interests and abilities, then jumped at the chance to involve Daniel in an intensive employment-training program. Coffey, who is 21, will be graduating in June.
Schools are required to prepare "transition plans" for Ohio students with developmental disabilities. But few students are in such top-notch programs - which make them much more likely to be employed after they move into the adult world, advocates and researchers say.
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