UPDATED 4/13: VIEW THE FULL FEATURE BY CLICKING HERE
On Sunday, April 12 at 7pm/6c Dateline NBC will feature a piece produced by Marjorie McAffee that investigates the process of “aging out” with autism.
Madison House Autism Foundation has been pleased to be involved in the discussions on this project. Adults with autism have been an almost invisible population. Recently, a national conversation has been developing on the issues individuals and families face.
Thank you to NBC and Marjorie for shining more light on this subject. We challenge others to address ways of formulating a positive future for adults on the autism spectrum. Please view the preview below, and click here to view the press release.
Autistic Adults: Socially Impaired or Socially Different?
I have twins both have severe cerebral palsy. We live in r.i
They will be 26 on April 22. It has been a horror show trying to. Get the care they need when they have to go to the hospital. Children’s Hospital refuses to see them because oftheir age. The adult hospital is a nightmare. Because they aren’t the average adult, their care is compromised. Ri has alot to offer when it comes to the special needs kids (which they will always be no matter of age) My savior is a children’s nursing home called TAvares pediatric home. My boys live there because their care is fabulous. I know no other state has a place like this. They saved me. One of my boys go to community group in the population daily like school. He loves it. Their home provides outings, movies, even concerts. Although I’m not the luckiest person, we are blessed to live in a state that has awareness for our special kids.
I am looking forward to watching this report. I live in Canada and my 27 year old son has Asperger’s. I too worry about his future and although there are resources now for children, people forget that ASD does not go away at 18. I want to Thank-You and the families involved for bringing attention to this issue. My son desires so much to be a productive member of society and has tried very hard to “fit in” He falls into an unspoken category of not being “disabled” enough. I could go on about our struggles and small victories but I will just conclude with THANK-YOU for bringing attention to this topic.
I have Aspergers Syndrome, a subset of the Autistic spectrum of symptoms. I look forward to watching this, and I hope it is mentioned that no two Autistics are identical; that many (but not all) of us are exceptionally intelligent; and that while it’s true that Autism cannot be outgrown per se, it can get easier as the years go by and coping strategies and social skills are practiced and improved upon. 🙂 With this I should also add, to all the non-autistic parents out there, please don’t push us too hard, please learn to recognise when we’re mentally overloaded and let us be as we calm ourselves, and please PLEASE help spread awareness of the evil scams known as MMS, and Autism Speaks — one is a poison masqueraded as a cure by unscrupulous individuals and the other is a quite negative “nonprofit” which would have you see us as a major burden with a disease that must be eradicated. I and many others in the Autistic community would not trade our Autism for anything and hope to be seen by everyone as equal and just different… ASAN is one great example of a positive Autism nonprofit and one in which actual Autistics actually have a say in it. Finally I will leave you with a fabulous quote that rings very true and dear to me: “Autism isn’t a processing error— it’s a different operating system.” 🙂 The day I can go to a store and not be stared at while in shutdown mode, will be a grand day indeed. Thanks for reading 🙂
What a sad time . We could have stopped this, instead it became about industry and politics. Mandates on the horizon, parents with no choices, such a cruel, cruel situation. No one is doing the needed research, the pharmaceuticals and the cdc are making it look like the stuff of “conspiracies” in effort to release them from liability. Few care, the parents are in this alone, and are calling it a holocaust. Is it?