High School is over

1. High School is over Now what?

2. My talk • 34 slides • Will take about 15 minutes • Part 1: Break down into main issues facing parents of young adults with autism • Part 2: Think of it from perspective of child

3. Me • Fellow traveler • Mother of 2 young men with autism • One is turning 20, possibly leaving high school • Have been giving a lot of thought to the future • Including discussions with other parents

4. Part 1

5. Childhood Over

6. What’s next?

7. Choices • College • Employment • Day Program • Stay at home and don’t work • Group home or AFL home

8. Who Decides?

9. Past and Future • Reality: • School and IEPs are behind you • No agency maps out your child’s life going forward • County can provide a case manager to help find services • More about that later • Let’s look at those choices again:

10. College • Regular 4 year college at grade level • UNCC and most other colleges have an Office of Disability Services that can help with accommodations but this is NOT an IEP • Special Colleges for Learning Disabled Students • http://www.college-scholarships.com/learning_disabilities.htm • Compensatory Education • CPCC has a special program for students with disabilities. It’s free • http://www.cpcc.edu/community_development/programs/compensatory-education

11. Employment • Competitive employment • Supported employment with help through the state office of Vocational Rehabilitation

12. Employment - Cont • Voc Rehab takes your child out for job sampling but may determine your child cannot hold a job. • Job training programs like Goodwill Industry’s Employment Skills Training (EST) • YOU may have to find your child a job • Limit to how much money person can make and still qualify for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) • Transportation must be considered

13. Day Programs • Therapeutic programs are much like school only for adults • Many vendors offer this • Catch: some Day Programs require CAP funding • Question: Is this the right option for my child? Visit program to see levels of functioning.

14. Stay at Home/Don’t work • Some individuals are content to be at home and not work or attend a day program • No one can do nothing all day every day. • Need: • Daily structure • Household chores • Personal activities like bathing • Leisure services • Mecklenburg County Parks and Rec • ARC of Mecklenburg County (social group) • Visits to library and grocery store with family • Check ASNC-MC newsletter for events

15. Tasks at home

16. Group home or AFL home • Your child lives with someone else • You still involved in child’s life • Child may spend weekends and holidays with you. • Eliminates need for you to manage your child’s life day in and day out

17. I need a helping hand

18. Case Manager • County has case managers • Call Mecklink at 704-336-6404 • Licensed intake personnel ask questions and direct you to appropriate dept • Developmental Disabilities Dept • More questions

19. Medicaid? • IF your child already has Medicaid, • County will get you a case manager • May set up a three-way call on the spot • IF your child DOES NOT have Medicaid • County will ask for supporting documentation • Such as TEACCH eval, psychological, adapative level, school records, etc • Once approved, Child given a case manager

20. What does a Case Manager do? • Links you to services like: • Respite • Job services • Day Programs • Can apply before 18 • If child is 18, you must be the legal guardian or child must accompany you to meet with case manager • Application for a Case Manager is NOT an application for CAP

21. You are the Ultimate Case Manager • County and Agency Case Managers come and go - You are the constant in your child’s life • Prepare yourself and your child for the future • Guardianship • Social security (SSI) • Set up a structure/system so your child continues to learn • How do you start?

22. What life skills does your adult child need? • Money management • Bathing • Cooking • Learning to manage an apartment • Improving Social Skills • Learning to set an alarm clock

23. Learning for Life • Full Life Ahead workbook • http://www.fulllifeahead.org/ • Contains checklist of skills • Addresses functioning level • When child attains goal, set up new goals

25. What does the path look like?

26. Part 2

27. How do you cope? • Predictability/Schedule • Social networking • In person/ASNC coffees and meetings • Online groups • Friends/associates to talk to

28. How does your child cope?

29. Transitions are hard • Big picture • Child is transitioning out of school • Major change • Needs to know what to expect • Smaller picture (day-to-day picture) • Every unplanned thing is an unexpected transition for him • Unexpected transitions lead to anxiety and melt downs

30. Help him know what to expect

31. Schedule • Set up a visual schedule • http://www.specialed.us/autism/structure/str11.htm • Write it down • Use picture symbols • Pull pictures from the internet • Let him know when things are going to change

32. Do you know this man?

33. Kim Peek • Could not dress himself or comb his hair • Father was main caregiver • When Kim died recently at 58 his obituary was in the New York Times • He was deeply introverted until he was 37 • Kim’s father said Dustin Hoffman told him to share Kim with the world. • Kim thrived on his new-found fame and “flowered” • “Pretty soon it got so that nobody was a stranger to him, they were people, and so was he.”

34. Future • Not just about us--parents as caregivers • About them--adults with autism as individuals finding lives with meaning