The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

This workshop will focus on the transition years through young adulthood, highlighting how best to provide successful community integration. During the entitlement years, students with autism must be taught how to learn, live, and work in the community, so that once entitlements are gone the individual with autism has a chance at success. Topics include community-based instruction, on-the-job training, and accessing all aspects of community living. With the implementation of I.D.E.A. in 1975 and the de-institutionalization movement in the late 1970s, this country began to show its commitment to people with disabilities. One of the great equalizers has been supporting individuals with disabilities to live and work in the community. For individuals with autism, this is easier said than done.  

Learning and practicing skills in the community needs to be an integral component of any I.E.P. for a student with autism as young as the elementary years. When a student with autism reaches the transition years, community based instruction should be prioritized. Community based instruction is defined as “teachers and other education personnel teaching educational objectives in natural environments such as work sites, shopping malls, and restaurants.” An adult with autism is more likely to maintain employment post‑21 if the job and related skills are secured prior to graduation.  

“Related skills” translates into “make it or break it” skills for an individual with autism. It is the lack of independent social skills, communication, and problem solving skills that result in not securing or maintaining employment. These skills must be prioritized in the educational years.  

Job-based instruction offers both students and adults with autism the opportunity to be exposed to task specific learning in a real world situation. From the start, the individual with autism has to learn to respond to a potentially high degree of unknown variables. Co‑workers can be taught to assist, rather than depending on a job coach.  

Individuals with autism may live in a variety of community settings, including the family home with their parents, their own home, supervised apartments, and group homes. Regardless of the setting, individuals with autism should be taught to their highest level of independence. Proficiency at activities of daily living skills reduces the need for support.  

Four additional aspects of living in the community are accessing services, purchasing goods, recreation, and giving back to the community. Individuals with autism need to access services in order to survive. Medical and dental care, banking, and hair-styling are some examples of these services. Purchasing of goods allows the individual with autism to buy food, clothing, supplies, and entertainment. Opportunities for recreational activities continue the successful integration into the community. Community give-back is a rather new concept. Particularly in the current economic climate, having an individual with autism volunteer in the community supports integration. Volunteering by definition is wide open for interpretation: giving blood, serving food at a homeless shelter, adopting a park, participating in a local walkathon are just some opportunities. 

This workshop will focus on how best to support community learning, living, and employment from the transition years through young adulthood.

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