Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com Yesterday was my autistic teenage son Leo’s annual IEP meeting, in which various people who help him achieve maximum awesomeness (teacher, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, school district representative, home program director, etc.) meet at his school, to determine what Leo-appropriate educational goals will be for the following year. These meetings are generally collaborative, positive, and entirely Leo-centric. I usually leave feeling relieved, and that my son is surrounded by the right people (and, knowing that this is not the case for many other families, incredibly lucky). This year, though, I panicked a bit. Not because of the approaching year’s goals, but because this was the first year we talked about a transition plan. About what Leo would do after he turned 22, and would no longer be able to attend his school. And optional placeholders like, “Employment: Day program, supported workplace.” Which made me…
Tag: Hillary Clinton
Shannon Des Roches Rosa Senior Editor, Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism Hilary Clinton’s campaign published an autism plan yesterday. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in an autism-centric policy statement, in a good way. It’s not perfect, because this is politics, and politics are more about compromise and incremental gains than revolutionary change. But throughout the statement, autistic people are treated as human beings with legitimate and sorely unmet needs, and not the usual (infuriating-to-read) millstones, pity magnets, or financial black holes that are tearing the fabric of families, not to mention our nation’s budget, apart. Human beings who deserve to be prioritized. That’s welcome progress, and I would like to see such outlooks become our country’s policy reality. The author and her son [image: selfie of two white people on a twilight hilltop.] As the parent of a beloved autistic teenager, and as a person who adores her autistic…