Dr. Joshua Ambar

But that's not enough.

We know that upwards of 80% of youth with autism intend to pursue some form of post-secondary education.

There is an aspiration among autistic individuals to live meaningful, productive lives.

But it's what is meaningful and productive to them versus what is meaningful and productive to a provider.

And that's a very different viewpoint.

It's also respecting that individual's needs, wants, and desires.

And this is true for people who don't have autism.

Families can relate to this all the time, letting your children grow up, leave the house.

I know it was very painful when I grew up and went to college, and my parents very naturally struggled with that.

It's a normal thing when we're dealing with somebody with autism.

However, depending on their level of function and how much support they've had, it becomes much more compounded because you've spent 18 years, 20 years caring for somebody and being an advocate for them.

And it's hard to let go.

It's hard to say now you are the one who's in charge.

So.

it is a process both for the parent the caregiver and broader institutions and providers but it's also a process for the autistic individual themselves they're there for the first time in some cases learning how to interact with the world around them in a way where their parents aren't serving as a mediator or an advocate who's right there by their side this is a whole new dynamic and it takes a lot of time to adjust to it

And these are the things that everyone has to work out, but are even more important for the autistic community.

Let's go back to the expert, Dr. Ambar.

The first biggest misconception is that once somebody successfully gets to adulthood, we assume that they have solved their autism or that we assume that they have successfully made it to adulthood.

Therefore, they don't require any additional supports.

That's not true.