08-20-2006, 10:26 PM
The autistic man in his 20s was fascinated by the sound and fury of broken glass.
On trips to the grocery store, he would swipe his arm down an aisle of glass bottles, just to watch them shatter. The problem was so severe he wasn't allowed to leave home for fear he would hurt himself or someone else.
How could such a person ever function in the real world?
"We ended up finding him a job at a recycling plant, where he got to chuck bottles into a bin and watch them break - that was his job!" recalled Jeanne Marshall, chief training officer at the Judevine Centre for Autism in suburban St Louis - one of the few centres in the US that offers help for autistic adults. "But we told him, 'This is the only place you can do this.' And it worked.
"We believe people can be successful if they're given support."
Experts say one of every 166 children born is autistic. The complex disorder is characterised by a wide range of behaviours, sometimes anti-social, including insistence on sameness, difficulty communicating, an inability to socialise.
Many children seem to be progressing normally, then as toddlers suddenly stop making eye contact, stop playing, sometimes stop speaking. Most children with the disorder aren't diagnosed until three or later.
While schools and social service providers have made strides in helping autistic children, autism is lifelong. There is no cure. As parents and other caregivers age, many autistic adults are institutionalised and otherwise set aside from society.
They needn't be, according to people at Judevine Centre, which counts among its clients children as young as 15 months and adults nearing retirement age.
Judevine serves more than 2 500 people in 93 Missouri counties. It offers a variety of services - individualised counselling, speech therapy, training for parents, training for school teachers and administrators.
The centre also provides job coaching, life skills training and aides who staff private homes where autistic people live.
"We teach them how to shop, how to catch a bus, even how to brush their teeth and shave," Marshall said.
Experts worry, though, that there aren't enough places like Judevine around the nation.
Laura Bono, a founding member of the National Autism Association, said the number of children diagnosed with autism began to rise dramatically in 1989.
"Not only do we not have enough services for adults now, the light at the end of the tunnel is a train," Bono said. "We don't know what we're going to do."
Life can be difficult for autistic adults because so few resources are available to help them, said Leonard Green, a Washington University professor of psychology and an expert on autism.
"There is an incredible paucity of services for the children," Green said. "Now, imagine what happens at the adult level - it's truly minimal. There's a real acute need."
The Autism Association is supporting the Combating Autism Act of 2006, a bill that passed the Senate Health Committee and would provide $1 billion for autism services over the next five years. The bill could reach the president's desk by the end of the year.
Linda Hunter's 35-year-old son Jeffrey has been a Judevine client since he was 3.
The Hunters, of St Louis, became concerned when Jeffrey still wasn't talking as a toddler. All these years later, he seldom speaks.
But within his limitations, Judevine had been able to get the most out of Jeffrey, Hunter said. He has a part-time job doing cleanup and maintenance at a bowling alley. And he lives with another man with autism at a home the Hunters purchased. Judevine workers staff the home 24 hours a day.
Hunter said: "If not for Judevine, he'd probably still be home with us and one of us would be crazy. Now, he has so much more freedom."
Not all forms of autism are alike. Some with the condition may seem slightly shy or withdrawn. Others can express violent, bizarre behaviours. Marshall said one client's condition was so severe that after his release from a mental institution, Judevine initially required that four staff workers be with him at all times.
Through months of training, the staffing requirement has been trimmed to two and could soon be reduced to one, she said.
Besides living independently, autistic adults get help finding their career niche. Job coaches work with both the client and potential employers. Companies are advised on how to deal with the behaviours.
Some autistics rock incessantly or bang their heads against the wall. Many are fascinated about one particular thing, often to the point of distraction.
"How do you deal with the person who wants to talk about dinosaurs for three straight hours?" Marshall asked. "There are some individuals with very challenging behaviours."
Those behaviours need to be thoroughly explained to employers, co-workers and others who coexist with autistic adults.
"My sense is they need to be involved with people who understand them because they behave socially differently," Green said.
"People are unaware of some bizarre behaviours and don't understand those are part of the disorder."
Others have little quirks. Craig Morris, 38, suffers from Asperger syndrome, a disorder in the autism range but typically not as severe. Some with Asperger are extraordinarily outgoing, sometimes making comments at inappropriate times. Others, like Craig, are extremely shy.
"When I was growing up I didn't fit in with a large group of people," Craig said. "I felt awkward."
Intelligent and well mannered, he graduated from Webster University in 1992, but his bashfulness kept him from getting a decent job. At Judevine, officials noticed his fascination with computers and asked him to put it to use by helping with data processing. He was so good he was eventually hired part-time.
From capeargus.co.za
On trips to the grocery store, he would swipe his arm down an aisle of glass bottles, just to watch them shatter. The problem was so severe he wasn't allowed to leave home for fear he would hurt himself or someone else.
How could such a person ever function in the real world?
"We ended up finding him a job at a recycling plant, where he got to chuck bottles into a bin and watch them break - that was his job!" recalled Jeanne Marshall, chief training officer at the Judevine Centre for Autism in suburban St Louis - one of the few centres in the US that offers help for autistic adults. "But we told him, 'This is the only place you can do this.' And it worked.
"We believe people can be successful if they're given support."
Experts say one of every 166 children born is autistic. The complex disorder is characterised by a wide range of behaviours, sometimes anti-social, including insistence on sameness, difficulty communicating, an inability to socialise.
Many children seem to be progressing normally, then as toddlers suddenly stop making eye contact, stop playing, sometimes stop speaking. Most children with the disorder aren't diagnosed until three or later.
While schools and social service providers have made strides in helping autistic children, autism is lifelong. There is no cure. As parents and other caregivers age, many autistic adults are institutionalised and otherwise set aside from society.
They needn't be, according to people at Judevine Centre, which counts among its clients children as young as 15 months and adults nearing retirement age.
Judevine serves more than 2 500 people in 93 Missouri counties. It offers a variety of services - individualised counselling, speech therapy, training for parents, training for school teachers and administrators.
The centre also provides job coaching, life skills training and aides who staff private homes where autistic people live.
"We teach them how to shop, how to catch a bus, even how to brush their teeth and shave," Marshall said.
Experts worry, though, that there aren't enough places like Judevine around the nation.
Laura Bono, a founding member of the National Autism Association, said the number of children diagnosed with autism began to rise dramatically in 1989.
"Not only do we not have enough services for adults now, the light at the end of the tunnel is a train," Bono said. "We don't know what we're going to do."
Life can be difficult for autistic adults because so few resources are available to help them, said Leonard Green, a Washington University professor of psychology and an expert on autism.
"There is an incredible paucity of services for the children," Green said. "Now, imagine what happens at the adult level - it's truly minimal. There's a real acute need."
The Autism Association is supporting the Combating Autism Act of 2006, a bill that passed the Senate Health Committee and would provide $1 billion for autism services over the next five years. The bill could reach the president's desk by the end of the year.
Linda Hunter's 35-year-old son Jeffrey has been a Judevine client since he was 3.
The Hunters, of St Louis, became concerned when Jeffrey still wasn't talking as a toddler. All these years later, he seldom speaks.
But within his limitations, Judevine had been able to get the most out of Jeffrey, Hunter said. He has a part-time job doing cleanup and maintenance at a bowling alley. And he lives with another man with autism at a home the Hunters purchased. Judevine workers staff the home 24 hours a day.
Hunter said: "If not for Judevine, he'd probably still be home with us and one of us would be crazy. Now, he has so much more freedom."
Not all forms of autism are alike. Some with the condition may seem slightly shy or withdrawn. Others can express violent, bizarre behaviours. Marshall said one client's condition was so severe that after his release from a mental institution, Judevine initially required that four staff workers be with him at all times.
Through months of training, the staffing requirement has been trimmed to two and could soon be reduced to one, she said.
Besides living independently, autistic adults get help finding their career niche. Job coaches work with both the client and potential employers. Companies are advised on how to deal with the behaviours.
Some autistics rock incessantly or bang their heads against the wall. Many are fascinated about one particular thing, often to the point of distraction.
"How do you deal with the person who wants to talk about dinosaurs for three straight hours?" Marshall asked. "There are some individuals with very challenging behaviours."
Those behaviours need to be thoroughly explained to employers, co-workers and others who coexist with autistic adults.
"My sense is they need to be involved with people who understand them because they behave socially differently," Green said.
"People are unaware of some bizarre behaviours and don't understand those are part of the disorder."
Others have little quirks. Craig Morris, 38, suffers from Asperger syndrome, a disorder in the autism range but typically not as severe. Some with Asperger are extraordinarily outgoing, sometimes making comments at inappropriate times. Others, like Craig, are extremely shy.
"When I was growing up I didn't fit in with a large group of people," Craig said. "I felt awkward."
Intelligent and well mannered, he graduated from Webster University in 1992, but his bashfulness kept him from getting a decent job. At Judevine, officials noticed his fascination with computers and asked him to put it to use by helping with data processing. He was so good he was eventually hired part-time.
From capeargus.co.za
