Raising Employment Expectations

After completing schoolwork, individuals with disabilities may be directed to a life of sheltered employment or a group home setting. University of Kansas researchers have been battling that type of guidance by proving that it is possible for individuals with disabilities to hold meaningful employment and live independently. Those researchers are sharing resources and training community members to spread the message, and now, they're taking it to other states.

Aging Parents Fear Future for Their Adult Children with Disabilities

KING FERRY, N.Y. -- Helen and Mike Littlejohn had three biological sons and one on the way when they decided they had it in them to adopt some hard-to-place children.

Isaac Littlejohn is one of 12 children.

Along came two girls with psychological disabilities. Next, a daughter with shaken baby syndrome.

Once their house was outfitted for a wheelchair, they adopted Isaac, an 11-year-old who could not walk or talk but laughed and played.

His two brothers, who had been eating lead paint, needed homes too.

"We said, well, we have to have them all together," Helen Littlejohn said.

Finally, the couple offered homes to two children who had been sexually abused.

That made them parents of 12 children - three with severe developmental disabilities.
"Our hearts were bigger than our logic," she said. "We went ahead and did it and thus started our future."

NYS Urged to Increase Funding

Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their advocates are urging Gov. Cuomo and state legislators to include adequate funding in the state budget to meet the need for support and services for that population.
Chapters of NYSARC Inc., a statewide organization supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, are lobbying to raise public awareness of difficulties families already encounter when trying to access services.

Parents, Advocates Blast Housing Plan

TRENTON — One parent of a man with autism called it confusing and terrifying. A housing developer of community housing for people with developmental disabilities called it "a misguided social experiment."

Marsha Adams testifies about
 her son who needs 24-hour care.

The Christie administration's sweeping proposal to promote community living and wider access to jobs and activities for the developmentally disabled was roundly criticized at an Assembly hearing at the Statehouse Thursday. Parents, advocates speciality home builders and community agencies said they feared the Department of Human Services' blueprint to spend a large portion of its Medicaid funding could disrupt the living arrangements and daily routines of thousands of people.

With Little Warning, Agency Is Crumbling

 A sad story in today's New York Times about FEGS. So many individuals with disabilities and friends depend on this agency for services.

The bombshell dropped on a quiet Friday evening. Steven Banks, the commissioner of the city’s Human Resources Administration, was in his office when he got the call.

On the line was Kristin M. Woodlock, the new chief executive of FEGS Health and Human Services, one of New York City’s largest social service agencies, a venerable institution often praised by corporate titans and community leaders alike.
But this was no social call: FEGS, the Human Resources Administration’s biggest provider of job placement services to the impoverished and disabled, had discovered a gaping hole in its budget and was suddenly struggling to stay afloat.

Autism Speaks Shifts Focus to Adults

After prioritizing the needs of children for years, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization is turning its attention to expanding housing options and supports for adults.

Starting as a pilot project in three states — Florida, New Jersey and Illinois — Autism Speaks is working with locally-based disability advocacy groups and policymakers to identify legislative goals and mobilize its own network to push for expanded home and community-based services.

U.S. Unprepared for 'Autism Tsunami' as Children Transition to Adults Services

Autism is on the rise: More than 1.5 million people have the condition in the United States alone. But because the majority of these people are younger than 22, the country is on the verge of an “autism tsunami” that could leave thousands without the support they need as they become adults, according to Autism Speaks, an autism advocacy organization. 

“The current system we have right now is woefully inadequate,” says Angela Lello, director of housing and community living at Autism Speaks. "There are lots of long waiting lists. In some states, it can take as long as 10 years to gain access to [these support] services."  

Settlement Relieves Maine Familes

For Cathy Dion of Greene, last week’s class-action lawsuit settlement with state health officials means her autistic son, Ben, will finally come off a waiting list for day treatment.

“He’s been on it since September 2012,” said Dion. Ben, now 20 years old, had received services through the public school system until June, but since then the Dions have been paying out of pocket for care.

Delaware Divided on Housing Issue

The debate that divides Delaware's disability community, especially in matters of housing, has plenty of sharp edges.
Those edges have come into plain view since the federal agency that decides how to steer taxpayer support for disability services has changed the rule on how it will fund home- and community-based services.

Seeking a Home for His Son, Father Now Faces Lawsuit From Neighbors

ENID, Okla. — Paul Smith's developmentally disabled son has called the Northern Oklahoma Resource Center in Enid his home for half a decade.

"The state is not doing them any favors by kicking them out," said Smith.

NORCE will close by 2015.  DHS says there are currently 50 residents living at the facility.  Smith wants to move his son, Weston to a home he plans to build, about eight miles away in Garfield County.

"We were being nice, and went to neighbors, told them basically what we are doing," said Smith.

Instead of a welcome to the neighborhood, Smith faces a lawsuit.

More Support Needed for Adults with Autism, Survey Finds

PHILADELPHIA — Within the next 10 years, nearly half a million young people diagnosed with autism grow into adulthood. A new survey says there will be a big need for supportive services and housing for these autistic adults.

The housing and residential supports survey was conducted over the course of four weeks and included responses from 10,000 caregivers and 400 people with autism spectrum disorder.“There’s no national plan or effort to really strategically deal with so many adults with autism coming into the system,” says Leslie Long, director of adult services for Autism Speaks, which conducted the survey.

Autistic Young Adults Less Likely to Have Jobs or Live Independently, Studies Find

Young adults with autism are less likely to find work or live on their own than their peers with other kinds of disabilities, two new studies show.
The studies detailed the fates of a national sample of 20-somethings who had received special-education services in high school.

Adutls with Autism Need Help, Too

From the Toronto Star's recent series "The Autism Project."


They are called the lost generation, adults with autism who are heading inevitably toward the uncharted territory of old age.
It is a perilous destination. When they were children, no one knew how to treat autistic brains and now that they’re getting old, no one knows how autism and aging interact. Mostly abandoned by science, they are now being left behind by elderly parents who are dying or can no longer care for them.

Connecticut Families Endure Long Wait for Care

Connecticut is fast running out of money for a residential program that many families with intellectually disabled children have relied on for years.  Families are concerned about where their children will live and who will take care of them as they grow older.

Hurricane Autism Has Made Landfall

From our friends at the Age of Autism. Something we've been talking about for years . . . autism isn't just about children; there are thousands of adults on the spectrum.

Looking back over the last several weeks I’ve noticed a steadily increasing trend in the news — more and more stories are coming around the country talking about the aging out ofthe autism generation.  It’s not surprising that this isn’t a cause for alarm.  Mounting numbers of children with autism have been calmly accepted for the last several decades by doctors, health officials, and the media.  And of course, children grow up, so this is only to be expected

Budget Cuts and the Meaning of Work

From The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Unfortunately, you can change the names and the location to almost anywhere around the country and find the same thing.

If you don’t have any direct experience with them, it can be hard to understand just how profound an effect Linn County’s recent budget cuts have had on people who rely on Mental Health and Developmental Disability services. That’s why a handful of families are speaking out, specifically about the cut to work programs.

Most of us are taught from childhood that work is an important part of becoming an adult — a source of pride and identity — and developmentally disabled adults in Linn County are no exception. Here are a few of their stories as written by family members:

Experts Brace for Wave of Autistic Adults

Guido Abenes

BERKLEY, Calif. -- Guido Abenes appreciates their concern, but he'd really like his parents to stop worrying about him.
He's 25, he says, and he's doing fine. But he's also autistic, part of the generation of young adults who were born during the first big wave of autism cases in the United States two decades ago and are now struggling to strike out on their own.
"I tell them sometimes, 'Stop it, I'm doing things, I'm resourceful,' " said Abenes, who is a student at Cal State East Bay. "They're getting the message, I think. But they still worry."

Editorial: Autism and the Budget Crisis

The prevalence of autism is continuing to rise, with an increasing number of families facing the reality that there will be cuts to both services and programs affecting people with autism unless we all take action. Tax revenues continue to decline during the current economic woes and the budget reserves are drained. Most states in America are proposing sweeping and deep budget cuts that will affect families through reductions in services that are proven and needed.

The cuts that are proposed are coming at a time when the experience of autism has become a national health care crisis, something that affects every single community in the nation. The current delivery system for services is often times unresponsive, ineffective, inefficient, and inappropriate where provision of quality and seamless services over a person with autism’s lifespan is concerned. The evidence is particularly noticeable in the adult services sector.

Chance Encounter Eases Mom's Fears

Stumbled upon this article this morning on Pittsburgh Post Gazette by Jennifer Eddings-Morrill of Verona, who is entering nursing school this fall, can be reached at imdagrl1972@comcast.net.

HARMARVILLE, Penn. -- I went to Target in Harmarville in June to get a gift for Conner's teacher.
I also needed some new cheap shoes for the kids. Their crocs and such from last year were looking a bit on the ragged side. So I found myself in the shoe aisle and I heard:
"Shoes. ... Shoes."
I didn't even have to look up to know that this young person had autism.

With Support System and Determination, Autistic Man Leads Full Life

Seventy million people - 1 percent of the world’s population - have some form of autism, a neurologic disorder that affects their ability to interact with other people and to care for themselves. Although treatment is available in developed nations, advocates say the outlook for those with severe autism is poor, and many spend their lives in sheltered environments. Those with milder forms of the disorder, however, can have more success integrating into society.
26-year-old Kevin Gibson is one of those success stories. He loves living in his own apartment. “It’s a great feeling, to like, be able to live on your own,” he said.