Reply to Resources for late Autism diagnosis?

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Resources for late Autism diagnosis?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]DC is a young adult with Autism. 2nd year out of high school, she struggles interacting with every adult in her life -- professors, therapists, employers, family, including us. Her life is shrinking before our eyes as her social interaction difficulties affect her every segment of life. All is getting worse, not better.

I'm looking for resources for young adults with high functioning autism, mostly affecting their social behavior and self management. Anything from specialists who might re-validate her diagnostic, to therapists who can work through her deep masking habit, to education situations that might be tolerable for her, including on-the job training, and even considering away programs that might help her build the habits she needs to get through this.

OP - Many years ago our oldest daughter was diagnosed with complex mental health issues whch first surfaced in college and she withdrew from her school and was home for nine months to diagnose and get appropriate treatment without the added pressues of a full-time college setting.  Mental and physical health issues must be addressed first.  If time is taken to do these, one may also find a positive and productive outlet in taking a college elective class for future transfer, in a volunteer job in an area of interest or talking a parti-time job -- something to give a structure to the day/week as treatment in terms of working with a therapist and adjusting to medications or just changes in medication.

In the DC area, there is one group that I have read about that you can find detailed information on at [b]TheDorm.com. [/b]

[/b]The program's website notes: "We support young adults going through challenging times and help them navigate a new path to independence."  This group would have been a wonderful resource to at least consult for our daughter many years ago.  In terms of working with young adults with disabilities, it notes their professional staff work with individuals with Anxiety Disorders, ADHD,  Autism  Spectrum Disorders, BiPolar, Emotional Dysregulation, OCD etc.  The program seems to offer individualized services with group sessions, too.  Aspects of independent living and relating to professional and personal peers would be addressed.[b][/b]

This might be a place to get a comprehensive evaluation for your daughter if terms all the various aspects of her life that she is struggling in rather than just a specific evaluation and diagnosis for Autism which you seem to have done.  If the program is not suited to the needs of you daughter after consultation, it might be a starting point to get references for adult providers serving young adults.  From our experiece, it was also key to have the right therapist and medical doctor working together when she was first diagnosed and at home.  Also to realize that it may well be that medication will just be a part of life in terms of keeping one's system regulated and in dealing with times of disregulation for whatever reason.  It is well worth it to take the time now to get things straigtened out.

On a broader scale for your daughter, in looking at a college setting if she has had difficulties where she is enrolled,  you may want to also do some research at area colleges to see what supports for a student on the spectrum are offered.  I know that George Mason for example has a support program - not he their LIFE program, but one for academically focused students with Autism.  McDaniel is also a smaller school in Maryland with strong supports.  In any case when she returns to college, keep track of all key dates for dropping a class and for requesting an incomplete.  [/b]Hard as it is just remember there is no timetable to life.  In our DD's case she completed a graduate program, has worked full-time at a job she enjoys, married and is raising two teens - and she has always maintained a strong medical team to keep life in balance.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics