Re: Housing and independent living - to Gail

[Guest guest]

Sorry that should have said Gail! That's what I get for emailing before coffee!

From: pltoc@... <pltoc@...>Subject: Re: ( ) Housing and independent living - to Date: Friday, July 31, 2009, 3:39 PM

...my son is 21 and I have the same concerns about him learning to live independently. Could you tell me where you are located and/or how to find a program like the one you described? You can e-mail me offlist if you'd rather...we are located in MD. Thank you for your help...I have been a part of this list for nearly ten years now and it's been very helpful. Blessings, Gail ( ) Housing and independent living

I have been a little behind on reading posts lately but I was trying to catch up tonight and saw several posts that talked about something many of us are concerned about – our kids living with us forever!! My son turned 19 in May and also graduated from high school. He had attended a private school his last two years that was specifically for kids on the spectrum. While this was a great thing for him both educationa lly and emotionally, I am still very concerned that Tyler lacks many of the skills he will need for independent living. We are fortunate in that we have been with an organization for the last several years in which Tyler has done “social understanding†groups. This past year they piloted a program called FOPI (Focusing on Personal Independence) for kids transitioning into college or employment or individuals who have already completed

college or skill training but are unable to take it to the next step. Tyler started this program a few weeks ago – he will receive 15 hours of services per week (1:1). The goals/objectives we identified for him are: 1) performing college preparatory skills; 2) appropriately performing money/budgeting skills; 3) performing in-home and community skills; and 4) performing social understanding skills. The goals/objectives have specific things that he will do to meet each goal/objective. We also have identified several long-term (2-5 years) goals: 1) he will complete community college; 2) he will then begin attending a university or obtain full-time employment; and 3) he will live independently in college housing or an apartment – with a roommate or alone. We are very hopeful this program will be successful for Tyler – the director says their goal is “to work ourselves out of a job†which will mean that Tyler was

successful. As you can imagine, it is not cheap (rate runs anywhere from $30-$50/h our – more ho urs you do the more discounted rate you get). But, my take on this is we can either spend the money now (in the next year or two) or spend the next 10 years or more and even more money trying to help him become independent. I am also involved with a group of parents whose goal is to find appropriate and affordable housing for these individuals. We are just in the beginning stages and realize it is going to take lots of money (we will look at all options for funding – grants, seeking donations, etc.) and may take up to 5 years to become a reality. By the time it does become reality, my son may be past needing this type of housing. But, there is the possibility he may not. No matter what, I plan to stay involved in this project as I feel it is something that is definitely needed and something I feel very

passionate about.

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