“Now they’re saying the system ends at 21″
December 15, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Are we failing autistic adults? is the headline for an article in today’s Bergen Record (NJ). On Thursday, December 14th, the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community (COSAC) released a white paper with more than 80 recommendations for revising the system which “largely ignores adults.” More than 60 percent of the 50,000 residents of New Jersey who have autism are adults; since 1999, the number of persons for autism-related services has increased by 186 percent.
“There’s a mom from Bergen County who has a daughter who went to a very expensive school, aged out and there were no services to support her, and she has been sitting home for two years,” said Leslie Long, [COSAC]’s director of adult resources. “Mom has had to leave her job, and the daughter has become self-injurious.”
Another parent, Frank Fiore, noted that he “never leaves the side” of his 17-year-old autistic son.
Since his son was diagnosed, Fiore knew that he could always lean on governmental agencies for support.
“Now they’re saying the system ends at 21,” he said. “What do we do about this?”
COSAC’s white paper, Meeting the Needs of Adults with Autism: A Blueprint for the Future, can be downloaded by clicking here.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] Simpson, in his Hartford Courant article, notes that Connecticut is “starting a pilot program for autistic adults”; as the white paper put out by the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community (COSAC) attests (see Now they’re saying the system ends at 21) attests, advocating now for the best possible services for the adults are children will become is something that we need to start now. [...]