This post has been on my mind for awhile, but other topics seem to take the lead when blogging. I want to share my experience of transitioning from high school to adulthood/college. As we all know, services for adults are very slim compared to the amount of services and supports available to children as well as adolescents still in the school system. In the K-12 system, numerous services and accommodations such as one-to-one aides as well as having behavioral therapies are provided through the use of a IEP (individualized Education Plan). As a result of these services, children with autism have a huge support network dedicated to their success not only academically but socially and emotionally as well. I was very fortunate that I had a support network of school psychologists, aides as well as a in-house autism behaviorist for high school. Having a team of people who cared about my well-being helped me to persevere through all of the issues and anxieties that plagued me through middle and high school. However, this all changed once I got my high school diploma six years ago. Overnight, I went from having a lot of support to no or very little support. The only people who were still on my support team was my privately paid behavioral therapist and my parents. While they provided help, it was not enough to address the large amount of transition anxiety that I was facing. As a result, I had to navigate my transition to community college on my own with very little help. Of course there is the disability center at college but they only provided academic accommodations that was geared toward those with learning disabilities as well as physical disabilities. During my first year in college, my mom and I checked out various day programs recommended by the regional center but most catered to those who have intellectual disabilities and were low in quality. As a result of losing my high school support networks and the limited number of available supports that appropriately address my needs as a college student, I went through phases of anxiety, frustration as well as depression. The periodic depression that I went through was characteristic of most of my college years. These phases would happen when I felt there was a lot of expectations placed upon me, when I transferrred to a four year university and lived away from home for the first time, when my aide/social mentor left last year and my therapist was not as available to see me during a hard and challenging spring semester. Despite these obstacles I faced I was able to graduate with a college degree this past December.
My story and experience shows that transitioning to adulthood whether if you got your high school diploma and college bound or someone who aged out of the school system (you can stay in the school system until age 22) is no easy journey. It is also important to remember that just because you had preparation in high school to deal with this transition, does not alleviate the anxiety and does not mean that you will need less support than you received in high school. I had a lot of preparation and skills training such as fading my aide by the end of my sophomore year, having a transition IEP, learning problem solving, self advocacy skills and emotional regulation as well as having a part time job internship at a department store my senior year. Regardless, I still needed support and if anything I needed more support once I transitioned to college. It makes me frustrated that experts stress that if intervention happens in childhood and adolescence that supports normalization, they will easily navigate the transition to adulthood but neglect to mention the anxiety that comes along with life transition for those on the spectrum. This is why it is important for more autistic adults to share their experiences and challenges of transition to college, adulthood or work and employment. It is also important that there needs to be a wide range of supports (in terms of employment, social and recreational and housing) that meet the individual needs and wants of autistic adults. It is also important that future interventions for adults with autism should focus on making their lives easier instead of normalizing them or dehumanize them.
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