Autism Grown Up

Autistic Adults’ Sensory Experiences in Public Spaces Every Autistic person has different sensory experiences and thus perceive spaces and sensory environments differently. In a series of focus groups with over 20 Autistic adults, researchers identified common sensory environments that were deemed disabling and themes for what is helpful/isn’t helpful across public spaces. Note your experience may be different than the ones listed here! 📝 Common Disabling Spaces Experienced to be commonly disabling sensory environments for Autistic Adults + Supermarkets + Eateries (Restaurants, cafes, pubs) + City/town centers + Public Transport + Healthcare (Doctor's offices & hospitals) + Shopping Centers Citation: MacLennan, K., Woolley, C., @ 21andsensory, E., Heasman, B., Starns, J., George, B., & Manning, C. (2023). “It is a big spider web of things”: Sensory experiences of autistic adults in public spaces. Autism in Adulthood, 5(4), 411-422.

Community-Based Instruction Ideas: Going to the Movie Theater Text from the post: A trip to the movie theater has lots of benefits compared to a more choice heavy outing like a grocery store. A movie theater is a space with a special protocol for receiving the service that it offers, and learning such protocols are valuable independent living skills. While it can sometimes feel like choosing an activity associated with leisure might be harder to justify, pursuing leisure activities is just as much a part of independent living as doing chores or running errands. The movie theater in particular is a great place to practice because new movies come out every week, so students can learn the same procedure and have access to a huge variety of different options. In addition, because a movie outing inherently requires some prep and planning you have a degree of control around the parameters of the outing and things like which movie you are seeing, who handles the ticketing and check in portions, and whether getting snacks from concessions will be part of the process. One challenge associated with movie theaters that we alluded to previously is that sometimes leisure outings take on a connotation that makes it harder to justify. If you need approval from gatekeepers to have such an outing and one of them decides going to see a movie is a little too frivolous then there is not much you can do about it! If you are keen on a movie outing, it helps to be prepared to answer the question “Why not do [X] instead?” One other challenge related to movie theaters is that there are some social norms that other moviegoers may feel entitled to try to enforce, leading to potential conflict in a way that is a little less likely in other contexts. One way to mitigate this challenge ahead of time is to try to coordinate with the theater ahead of time. They may be able to identify a time that would be optimal for minimizing that risk or even offer a reserved space where there is less risk of conflict over a minor etiquette breach. It is another case where it is worth taking a couple extra steps to ensure that the outing feels safe and students can focus on practicing their skills and in the case of a movie theater enjoy the show!

Community-Based Instruction Ideas: Going to the Movie Theater Text from the post: A trip to the movie theater has lots of benefits compared to a more choice heavy outing like a grocery store. A movie theater is a space with a special protocol for receiving the service that it offers, and learning such protocols are valuable independent living skills. While it can sometimes feel like choosing an activity associated with leisure might be harder to justify, pursuing leisure activities is just as much a part of independent living as doing chores or running errands. The movie theater in particular is a great place to practice because new movies come out every week, so students can learn the same procedure and have access to a huge variety of different options. In addition, because a movie outing inherently requires some prep and planning you have a degree of control around the parameters of the outing and things like which movie you are seeing, who handles the ticketing and check in portions, and whether getting snacks from concessions will be part of the process. One challenge associated with movie theaters that we alluded to previously is that sometimes leisure outings take on a connotation that makes it harder to justify. If you need approval from gatekeepers to have such an outing and one of them decides going to see a movie is a little too frivolous then there is not much you can do about it! If you are keen on a movie outing, it helps to be prepared to answer the question “Why not do [X] instead?” One other challenge related to movie theaters is that there are some social norms that other moviegoers may feel entitled to try to enforce, leading to potential conflict in a way that is a little less likely in other contexts. One way to mitigate this challenge ahead of time is to try to coordinate with the theater ahead of time. They may be able to identify a time that would be optimal for minimizing that risk or even offer a reserved space where there is less risk of conflict over a minor etiquette breach. It is another case where it is worth taking a couple extra steps to ensure that the outing feels safe and students can focus on practicing their skills and in the case of a movie theater enjoy the show!

Social Skill IEP Goal Example Category: Boundaries Varying how boundaries are set with classmates, peers, family, teachers, adults, and strangers - Identify how given boundaries may be different across people Example: “By 10/15, working with an instructor, Tristan will identify a personal boundary that is important to him across a variety of settings and the different ways he might communicate that boundary depending on whether he is talking to a classmate, a friend, the instructor, other school staff, family, or strangers.” 

Social Skill IEP Goal Example Category: Boundaries Varying how boundaries are set with classmates, peers, family, teachers, adults, and strangers - Identify how given boundaries may be different across people Example: “By 10/15, working with an instructor, Tristan will identify a personal boundary that is important to him across a variety of settings and the different ways he might communicate that boundary depending on whether he is talking to a classmate, a friend, the instructor, other school staff, family, or strangers.” 

Small Business Networking Toolkit While we may not fully grasp the exact contours of Autistic unemployment at this time, one thing is clear: many Autistic adults do struggle with finding and keeping employment compared to Allistic peers for a variety of reasons, not least of which being that workplace cultures are often dominated by Allistic social norms. In such a world, many Autistic adults may consider the potential benefits of starting their own business or acting as an independent contractor rather than having to decipher office culture. But independent contracting comes with many challenges in its own right, and self-employed individuals still need to do a lot of legwork - and networking - to establish the clientele they need to turn into a viable business venture. We are releasing this toolkit to offer some strategies for working toward those goals so that Autistic adults seeking to explore the self-employment route can consider a variety of starting points for what they want to do. In this toolkit, we cover/include: + Information About Common Needs + Types of Networking + Disclosure + Establishing and Maintaining Boundaries + Self-Advocacy + Independent Contractors/Consulting Sections + Small Business Owners Sections Access it here: https://lnkd.in/ex6jNBNs

Halloween Trick-or-Treating Scripts This social script collection helps provide an outline of what to potentially expect socially during trick or treating. Whether you or the individual you are supporting are trick or treating and/or passing out candy, everyone will be ready! (Ready to have fun too!) The purpose of our scripts is to provide ownership for the individual around what they want to say or not say. Trick-or-treating and/or passing out candy provides a lot of repetition with different people, so it can be fun to try out new ideas and practice what you want to do. These cards can be used as a communication system as well. Access it here: https://lnkd.in/dcbYwNqx

How to Plan for Community-Based Instruction Make sure your locations of interest can help you hit your core criteria and narrow down options. + Helps with practicing a skill that is used in a community setting. + Takes place in that community setting. + Shares information about and offers opportunity to work on unique procedures related to receiving services in that location. + Discusses but does not enforce behavior related to unique social norms in that location. + Acts as a safe space where it is OK to make mistakes even though it is set in the community. Access the full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/e5EhZcUQ

How to Plan for Community-Based Instruction Make sure your locations of interest can help you hit your core criteria and narrow down options. + Helps with practicing a skill that is used in a community setting. + Takes place in that community setting. + Shares information about and offers opportunity to work on unique procedures related to receiving services in that location. + Discusses but does not enforce behavior related to unique social norms in that location. + Acts as a safe space where it is OK to make mistakes even though it is set in the community. Access the full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/e5EhZcUQ

Most Common Independent Living Skills Focused On for Teaching + Cooking + First Aid + Laundry + Cleaning + Healthy Eating + Transportation + Setting Alarm + Mail + Financial Literacy + General Safety + Hygiene + Exercising + Communication Citation: Taconet, A. V., Lombardi, A. R., Madaus, J. W., Sinclair, T. E., Rifenbark, G. G., Morningstar, M. E., & Langdon, S. N. (2024). Interventions Focused on Independent Living Skills for Youth With Intellectual Disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 47(1), 32-45.