Accessing autism services after age 21


Posted by Patricia Wright on January 28th, 2009

A parent commented to the Easter Seals autism blog last week — she was asking for help for her son. He is an adult with autism, and he has aggressive tendencies.

The needs for services and supports for adults with autism is a growing crisis. Entitlement services typically end at age 21. The parent who commented has a son who is 22 years old, and accessing appropriate service and supports becomes increasingly more challenging after age 21.

Maybe there is hope now with the new administration. Changes in the White House mean there are also changes on the disability section of the White House Web site. The site now details the new administration’s commitment to families with autism.

President Obama and Vice President Biden are committed to supporting Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders (”ASD”), their families, and their communities.

From there it lists the specifics, including

President Obama and Vice President Biden support improving life-long services for people with ASD for treatments, interventions and services for both children and adults with ASD.

In my work with children and adults with autism, I have found that parents of individuals with autism are often the most aware of useful services and supports. I encourage parents and caregivers to contact local support groups and engage in dialogue with other parents who may have been in a similar situation and found a solution. The Autism Society of America has a chapter locator which may be a good place to start.

One last thing — parents who have their children with autism still living with them as adults need to know that individuals with autism can learn to communicate effectively and do not have to resort to aggression towards themselves and others. Parents awaiting residential placement for their adult children can sometimes access behavioral health services to assist with their ability to communicate and reduce aggression. A brief description of Functional Communication Training might help. It is a shame that accessing services has been such a challenge for adults with autism. Here’s hoping things really do change.


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One Response to “Accessing autism services after age 21”

  1. NatalieT. Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    Growing up, I knew something was not quite right with my Dad. He worked successfully as an engineer, though. Then I knew something was not quite right with me in grade school. I could not figure out why I was not making any friends, and for the most part was in the regular class. My strength was in art and crafts, and in high school I worked hard, and became a Christian. After I learned about love and forgiveness and went to Moody Bible Institute for prepare for ministry work, and got involved in a local church, took classes and tapes on assertiveness only to find myself in an embarrassing financial and job crisis again and again, always needing help rather than giving it as planned, always feeling like a sheep in a maze, never figuring out which path will lead to greener grass. My life is never stable. I could never find a decent husband the whole time in school and abouts. One thing I knew I needed to do was dig deeper and get help from an advocate. This will take time. Meanwhile, my life had been plain humiliating because I inherited a disability in the autistic spectrum, but seemed normal enough to fool myself and others.

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