How can we better support our kids and adults with autism?

As parents, we want our children to be happy and carry out their lives feeling capable and accomplished. With ASAN as an inspiration and resource, we’ve listed a few areas in which we can work to better support both our neurodiverse and neurotypical communities.

• Advocating in school

  Inclusion: Kids learn best when surrounded by their peers. Separating non-disabled and disabled children only widens the gap of understanding and learning. Advocating for more inclusive practices in classrooms leads to inclusivity in the workforce, housing communities, and everyday life.

  Supports: For inclusion to truly work, our children need to be supported in classrooms with accommodations and services that allow them to access classroom material in a variety of ways. Teachings that follow Universal Design for Learning (UDL) make students feel comfortable, welcome, and valued along with their peers.

• Support in the workforce

  Job coaching: Job coaching can help people with autism prepare for job interviews and life in the workforce. With valuable resources like interview practice and resume writing, people with autism can be better prepared to enter the workforce.

  Accommodations: As explained by ASAN, “Once we get a job, we may need accommodations like a daily work agenda with visuals, a consistent job schedule, or someone to help us with our job throughout the day.”

• Housing and everyday responsibilities

  Housing support: As ASAN says, people with autism “have specific needs when it comes to getting housing. We may be sensitive to certain sounds or lighting, need help doing tasks around the house, need assistive technology in the house to help us, or have other support needs.” Accessible and inclusive housing will aid people with disabilities when transitioning to adult communities.

• Research and health care

  Supportive research: Research that is focused on communication, community living, education, and health care for people with autism is what supports kids for their future. As Undivided parent Michelle Malewitz puts it, “There is nothing wrong with my child, he doesn’t need to be fixed, and he is not missing a piece. He is absolutely the same wonderful and amazing kid he was pre-diagnosis.”

  Understanding autism: The more we understand about autism, the more accurate help and support our doctors and teachers can provide.

For more information, check out our article Keeping the Conversation Going After Autism Acceptance Month.