Opinion: Will Government Restrict Autism Housing Options?

From Age of Autism, post by Nancy Bernotaitis, parent of three children, her youngest, 15, diagnosed on the autism spectrum.  Nancy has been involved in the autism community for over 13 years serving as president of the Autism Society of America-Dayton Chapter, Goodwill/Easter Seals Assistive Technology Specialist, and webinar moderator for Moms Fighting Autism.  She is the Executive Director of Good Works Farm, Inc., a future farm community for adults with autism. 

As is typical of our government, a ruling meant to protect Americans with disabilities (Olmstead v. L.C. 1999) is being misconstrued to the detriment of this population.  In Olmstead v. L.C., a ruling requires states to “eliminate unnecessary segregation of persons with disabilities and to ensure that persons with disabilities receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate for their needs.” 

In 2009, President Obama issued a proclamation launching the “Year of Community Living” and directed his Administration to redouble enforcement efforts.

The U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) lead by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is charged with this enforcement. 

In May of 2013, Jeff Rosen, Chairperson of the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency charged with advising Congress and the executive branch on disability policy, wrote a letter to Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), interpreted the ruling to mean that individuals with disabilities move from provider-owned housing into their own homes or scattered-site housing and apartments, and urged HUD to issue “guidance to recipients of HUD funds on meeting the obligations of Olmstead and the integration mandate of the ADA.”  In his letter, Mr. Rosen seeks to define community living as “utilizing a definition that excludes gated communities, segregated farmsteads, clusters of group homes, settings that restrict personal choice and control, and other settings with the characteristics of an institution.”

App On iPod Touch Helps Autistic Adults Work More Efficiently

With difficulties related to behavior, communication, cognition, and sensory processing, people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a hard time not only finding a job, but keeping the job as well. In the United States, just 15% of adults struggling with ASD are getting paid for some type of work. However, according to new research, people with the disorder are able to work more efficiently with the task management and organizational features on personal digital assistants (PDAs).

The research consisted of case studies that demonstrated the use of Apple® iPod touch® PDAs as vocational supports, which was published in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Opinion: Autism Does Not Define Potential

Thoughtful opinion piece by Todd Drezner of Brooklyn, N.Y.


I'm against Autism Awareness Month. Don't get me wrong — as the father of an autistic son and the director of the documentary "Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic" (tinyurl.com/3dlrgnb), I'm eager for people to learn about and understand autism.
But as I made my film, I met a lot of autistic adults who don't think about autism in the same way the rest of the world perceives it. There's a huge obsession with everything about autistic children today, and amid this clamor, autistic adults are too often ignored. I was interested in what they had to say about themselves.

Dr. Peter Gerhardt on Adults with Autism

My childhood friend Lisa Jo Rudy who blogs at about.com on autism spectrum disorders has a wonderful guest blog by Dr. Peter Gerhardt, President of the Organization for Autism Research, and the needs for adults on the spectrum. Hopefully the media will catch on that it's not just about cute children with autism.

The cohort of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosed as part of the first wave of what is often referred to as the autism epidemic is rapidly approaching adulthood. This cohort represents only the proverbial tip of the iceberg with some reports noting that 70% of the currently identified individuals with ASD are less than 14-years old. These numbers represent a looming crisis of unprecedented magnitude for adults with autism, their families, and the ill-prepared and underfunded adult service system charged with meeting their needs.

When Children with ASD Grow Up

Interesting column by Deirdre Imus, Founder and President of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health CenterTM at Hackensack University Medical Center and Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. While she talks about the children with autism who will become adults . . . the question still remains about all the adults who have autism today and who may not have had the benefits of early intervention and other services.

April is Autism Awareness Month, and you may have already heard countless reports about the shocking fact that 1 in 110 – a full one percent – of American children have autism.
Because the majority of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are still under the age of 20, a great deal of attention has been focused on education.
But the problems facing individuals with autism does not end when they age out of school. In many ways they become even more demanding, difficult and costly.

Setting Priorities for Young Adults on the Spectrum

Each year, tens of thousands of children diagnosed with autism, from mild to severe, enter adulthood and leave the safe confines of schools and their services behind.
Every day, their parents, such as Jennifer Smith-Currier of Gardner, Kan., worry what will become of them.
"It's like, where is the journey going?" said Smith-Currier, whose children Corinne, 16, and Cameron, 14, have autism. "When you have a typical child, there are goals: You go to high school; you go to college; you have a career and 2.5 children. My daughter is 16 with the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. Will my son ever get married? I don't know the answer. Will my daughter ever drive a car? I don't know the answer. Will she ever find love?
Smith-Currier joined about 65 other parents, counselors, developmental experts and many adults with autism recently to be part of a "National Town Hall" - meetings held simultaneously in 16 cities.

Florida Court Questions Cuts in Services

DAYTONA BEACH -- A state appellate court has raised concerns about a system put into place last year that cut services to thousands of people statewide with developmental disabilities, including about 230 locally.
The 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee issued an opinion last week that the state failed to develop proper rules when it implemented the so-called tier system last October.
One concern dealt with how the state assesses some clients.
The state serves about 31,000 people statewide with developmental disabilities, including about 1,000 adults and children in Volusia and Flagler counties. About 7,500 statewide saw cuts in services under the new system, including about 230 locally.

From a $29 Million Gift, Treatment for Adults With Autism

Interesting item on a Wall Street Journal Health Blog by Jacob Goldstein.

We think of autism as a childhood syndrome, and treatment for the disorder is largely centered in pediatrics. But kids with autism grow up to be adults with autism, which raises a complex set of issues.
So we were interested to learn that Mass. General, one of the nation’s most famous hospitals, is about to launch a new comprehensive program aimed at treating adults. The program will be funded by a $29 million gift from a family foundation in Massachusetts that often funds autism research, the Boston Globe reports.