In July 2012, the NLM Family Foundation sponsored a special one-day workshop, “Living with Autism in Adulthood,” at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss progressive public policy and planning initiatives relevant to adults with autism. Topics for discussion included employment, residential planning, family and community supports, communication, and the transition to more independent living.

The meeting was chaired by Clarence Schutt and Susan Parish, Ph.D., Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Disability Policy and Director of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University. The workshop included the following presentations as well as a video presentation titled, “In Their Own Words: Living with Autism in Adulthood”, featuring the perspectives of Larry Bissonnette, Jamie Burke, Sue Rubin, and Tracy Thresher.

Aging Well with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Tamar Heller, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, Institute on Disability and Human Development

Many Pathways to Employment
William Kiernan, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute for Community Inclusion

Building Community for Adults with Autism
Denise Resnik, Co-Founder, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center

Research on Young Adulthood: New Findings, New Directions
Paul Shattuck, Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis

Parent-Led Initiatives: Living, Learning and Linking Adults with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
Catherine Boyle, Autism Housing Pathways

Parent-Led Initiatives: A Parent’s Guide to Autism Services
Anne Larkin, Ph.D., Lesley University

Parent-Led Initiatives: Autism Housing Pathways
Maureen Manning, 3LPlace

Please click on the link below to view a summary of the presentations and discussions which took place at the workshop.

LIVING WITH AUTISM IN ADULTHOOD

NLM Family Foundation
2012