More young adults with autism enter work force

By Delthia Ricks Newsday
NEW YORK The population of young adults with autism has been booming nationwide, experts said Friday as they shined a spotlight on the need for jobs and support programs.
The first large group has reached young adulthood, said Joanne Gerenser of Eden II, which provides services on Long Island and in New York City.
Gerenser, one of several experts who addressed a conference in Melville, Long Island, said an 800 percent growth rate in children with autism over the past 20 years is translating into an explosion of adults with the condition.
The public’s view of the typical person with autism is a 6-year-old. “They have no idea that there are adults with autism, and they have incredibly complex needs,” Gerenser said.
Peter Pierri of the nonprofit Developmental Disabilities Institute called for policy changes that would result in funding for better services.
“We don’t have sufficient government reimbursement for the support we provide,” he said. “We have staff members who go with individuals while they are working to help them with job skills and proper social interaction skills on the job site.”
Brenda Smith Myles, a professor at the University of Kansas, said even though autism covers a range of intellectual abilities, few young people with autism find meaningful work. She said only 12 percent considered high-functioning have jobs while only 6 percent with so-called classic autism are employed.
Concerns are mounting because programs that aid autistic children end between the ages of 18 and 21.
Myles spoke of a “hidden curriculum” on everyday life that people who don’t have autism seem to know without being taught. “Just about everybody knows that you don’t adjust your underwear in public,” Myles said. “But people on the autism spectrum aren’t aware of this.”
Hence, the need for social skills training programs, Myles and other experts said.
During periods set aside for families to address the experts, one parent after another spoke of difficulties. Some needed adult daycare programs. Others wanted meaningful work for their adult autistic child.
Gerenser commended several corporations, such as Walgreens, Home Depot and CVS, which have programs to hire people with autism. “What a great workforce people with autism are,” Gerenser said. “They don’t lie, they don’t gossip and they’re always on time.”