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Category: Self-Determination

Do We Spend Enough Time Thinking About Independence?

Do We Spend Enough Time Thinking About Independence?

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Sometimes, the things we don’t talk about can be very revealing. I’ve previously written about my fear that many autistic people are becoming dependent on supports and failing to surpass the low expectations that others have of us.  While this usually doesn’t cause too many problems in childhood, it can be disastrous in adulthood.  Not only does the adult transition take autistic people into new and unfamiliar environments, with greater demands, but our society strips away most supports just as…

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Inclusion and Mainstreaming: What is To Be Done?

Inclusion and Mainstreaming: What is To Be Done?

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Over the last few months, I’ve written a lot of posts sharing my thoughts on inclusion and mainstreaming.  In those posts, I’ve spent a lot of time complaining about the way things are done today (especially in North America), but I’ve spent relatively little time describing the urgent changes I think we need. Probably the most complete description of my thoughts so far is found in this post, where I explain how I disagree with both of the major views…

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Independence: Preparation for Transition (Part I)

Independence: Preparation for Transition (Part I)

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Transition to adulthood is a daunting challenge.  In transition to adulthood, we fall off a cliff.  We suddenly find the predictable environments that have surrounded us changing, and we enter new and different environments.  In these new environments, we encounter new expectations, new demands.  In these new environments, our familiar support systems fall away, and we find ourselves struggling to advocate for ourselves within an unfamiliar and inadequate set of adult service systems. Seriously, if you have a group of…

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Independence: The Transition (Part II)

Independence: The Transition (Part II)

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In Part I of this post, I raised the concern that many young autistic people can become dependent on their parents or support systems, and that many young autistic people aren’t being expected to succeed in adulthood.  As a result, they are unprepared for the adult transition. In Part I, I recommended that we should do more to prepare young people for the demands of adulthood in the years before they pass that magical dividing line and become adults.  In…

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Who to Include? Who to Exclude?

Who to Include? Who to Exclude?

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Many autistic people suffer in mainstream schools.  They can be bullied and victimized, isolated and ostracized.  They can experience the distress which comes from being in an environment that is hostile to their senses.  Their mental health can suffer.  Some autistic people, in the schools, do not learn the subjects being taught in their curriculum, but helplessness and fear. There are at least two major responses to this problem.  One group – those who could be called “full,” “universal,” or…

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