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THE SJ CHILDS SHOW
Looking for an inspiring podcast on education and parenting? Check out "The SJ Childs Show," ranked in the top 10% of podcasts globally. It covers diverse topics, including neurodiversity and inclusion, featuring interviews with experts and thought-provoking discussions. This show aims to challenge your beliefs and enhance your skills as a parent, educator, and global citizen. Tune in for unique insights and perspectives!
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THE SJ CHILDS SHOW
Episode 291-Bridging the Gap: Transition Support for Autistic Adults with April Ratchford
What happens when an occupational therapist and a devoted mother come together to tackle the pressing issues surrounding autistic adult transition support? Join us in a heartfelt exchange with April as we uncover the real challenges faced by autistic individuals and their families as they step into adulthood. With April's personal journey as both a professional and a parent, we navigate the complexities of post-secondary education and the glaring gaps in autism-specific services, particularly in states like Kentucky. Our conversation sheds light on the vital need for a unified system across states, ensuring these talented individuals find their rightful place in society with the necessary accommodations in housing and employment.
Prepare to be inspired as we offer strategies for parents bracing for the transition of their autistic children from high school to the broader world. We stress the importance of early preparation and realistic assessments, helping families align their children’s aspirations—be it college, employment, or unique interests like video gaming—with the right opportunities. Discover the value of community resources, ongoing education, and the collective push for legislative change, especially as autism prevalence climbs. As our dialogue wraps up, feel the warmth of future collaboration and genuine connection, as April and I share our mutual enthusiasm for continued advocacy and support for autistic adults.
Adulting with Autism Podcast
https://adultingwithautismpodcast.podbean.com/
https://www.sjchilds.org
Welcome to the SJ Child Show, where a little bit of knowledge can turn fear into understanding. Enjoy the show. Thank you so much for joining the SG Child Show today. I am here with my guest, april, and I'm really looking forward to the conversation with her. You know, finding relatability in conversations, sharing it, uniting the community with that kind of information and education is so important to me and that's why I bring a wonderful guests that can do that for us all. Thank you so much, april, for being here.
Speaker 2:Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's so nice to meet you. It's so nice to have you here. Let's get started with an introduction from you. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what brought you here today.
Speaker 2:So I am an occupational therapist by trade. I am a mom, I am created with autism. When he graduated in 2020, and that was like when COVID came out we had no transitioning. We got a piece of paper and that was it. And, being an occupational therapist, my medium is geriatrics and I was like that's it, what do we do? There's no transition.
Speaker 2:So we went through this rigmarole of okay, let's try college. And lo and behold, there are, you know, supports for kids in college, but it's not autistic autism supports. Autistic autism supports, and not all colleges have that, and the colleges that do have it, tack on fees to tuition. Yeah Right. And so you know, and the school he went to Eastern Kentucky university Did not support him Mentally. He tanked, and we went did not support him mentally. He tanked, and then we went, and so we'd been through rabbit holes and he ended up with a $10,000 bill from the school. And I was so mad, I was so fired up. I was like what can I do? What can I do so other parents don't have to do this? I'm like this is ridiculous, that there is no other transition. So I started this and lo and behold, here's adulting with autism.
Speaker 1:And that's the podcast. Right, it is a podcast, I love it and I'm it's so important. I'm so glad you started something like this because it's a topic that is still being demystified, if you will. That autism exists in adults, uh, guess what Late diagnosed adult autistic here I can tell you not only does it exist in adults, but I've obviously been autistic my entire life. So it also goes without notice and without being seen for many, many, many years. I think it either is obvious, as with my child and maybe your own.
Speaker 1:He was diagnosed. My child was diagnosed at 16 months, so it was a very early understanding of what we needed to perceive and change our ideas about. And we don't consider because there is so much, there are so many therapies for children, for early intervention, school, you know, to high school, sometimes even voc rehab a little bit out of high school, but then it's like nothing. Where do we get these adult services? Why don't we have these adult services services? How are we going to start implementing these services for these adults, whether it's accommodating, housing or accommodating, you know, schooling or especially employment, so many underemployed and unemployed autistic adults that could use their amazing talents in areas more than they're believed that they can, and it's so frustrating and I'm so glad that you're helping give voice and rise to that.
Speaker 2:It's just and there's no unification. Every state is different. Some states have really great supports and then there are states like my state in Kentucky. The supports for young adults is like nil and I'm like it's all or nothing and that's not how it should be. It should be unified. Parents should have transition. I'm like they got transition all the way through school. What makes you think they don't need transition after high school?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. What type of accommodations would you provide if there were a services out there right now that you could go show up to? What would those look like? How can we put action towards these things? Oh loaded question.
Speaker 2:I know it's a loaded question. It's such a loaded question, but you know it really starts in high school. Start prepping them. You're going to along with their peers after high school. What is it that you like? What is it that you want to do? Do you know? If you don't know, let's figure it out.
Speaker 2:And it's prepping the parents as well. Like, listen, your kid is not going to be a kid forever. You can't talk to them like a kid. Yes, they have autism, but they are still going to be an adult. You can't treat them as a kid when they turn 18. They know they're going to be an adult. So it's like almost having a transition program for the parent and their kid, because that communication can get real hairy. And where are they going to live and do they need support? And there's a lot to go by. And parents don't know all of these things. It's not something they're taught. They're taught everything they may need during the school years. But I mean, are they going to need housing? Do they need supervision? Can they cook? Can they do these things on their own? Can they drive? And the housing situation is not ideal. Listen, I get that they can have housing, but they don't need housing with people that are in their 50s, 60s. Yeah, they need housing for their peer age so they can socialize. They want to be their peers.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't think when the structures you know came up, they really thought about this. And as we're learning more and more and more about autism, things have changed and but the structure has not, and it's time for them to catch up.
Speaker 1:It certainly is, and whether you have to do that, you know, as a parent, if you're listening a teacher, a legislator, who I hope will be able to make the most change and put in the most effect, at least for this community. But it's so important. Here in Utah there are, you know, live-in independent facilities. You know, live in independent facilities. But just because there's one facility that's an independent living facility that doesn't like give the needs for all of the independent living. Or maybe, like you said, maybe there are more supports needed.
Speaker 1:And sometimes, when we look into a group home settings, I know for my own personal experience I've never worked or been to one other than you know like a senior care clinic.
Speaker 1:But when my husband was growing up he was raised in group homes and he worked in group homes later for disabled adults and his ideas and recollections and memories of those aren't anywhere.
Speaker 1:He would ever put our son to go live.
Speaker 1:And it's hard because, of course, every family is so unique and so individual and everyone has to make their own decision based on their family values. So I would never want anyone to take what I'm saying as like put it onto them or vice versa, because you have to be strong enough within yourself to know what's best for your child, and you have to live with conviction with that, don't you? And the same comes to work and where you're going to provide opportunities for work. Yeah, that's great that they can go bag at the grocery store, but you know, some people can do so much more and they have these talents and this way of thinking and you know individual kind of passions that could be utilized. And we should have some more types of counselors employment counselors I don't know what to call them that look for those things, that look for those passions in autistic adults and then find opportunities based on those, so that you can push them to be their very best, because that's what we should do for every human. I don't think otherwise.
Speaker 2:I interviewed another podcaster, michael McGroosh, who said that in order for us to kind of think outside the box, we have to destroy the structure, because the structure is it doesn't work anymore for unique individuals Like autistic young people may not want to do meetings. They don't need meetings. Just tell them what to do and they can do it from home.
Speaker 2:They don't care about. Some of them may not care about Jane's birthday or baby shower. They could care less. And it's not that they are being rude about it, it's just it's not what they do. It's not their thing. They're not being rude, it's just not their thing. But they can do the job and they can do the job well and don't fault them for it.
Speaker 1:Oh, we need to have more employers trained for that, trained or hiring whatever they are, the hiring people trained for seeing what accommodations are needed. And I guess that comes in where you and I are, you know, out there advocating for our child, for our my son is 14. He's almost there, it's going to fly by and he's going to be there in this adult space that I'm not going to know how to manage and I'm going to have to learn as I go and I'm going to reach out to April and say, oh my gosh, here I am. I'm going to be listening to the Adulting with Autism podcast so that I can figure out what my a space for people to find resources and education.
Speaker 2:And it's so strange. I've set it out for like explicitly for parents, but my biggest audience is the young people from 23 to 35. And it's so I'm like you guys are listening. I thought it would be your parents, but they're wanting to be independent, they want the mental health, they want to be their best, they want to move forward and it's time that people around the world understand they want to contribute to make society better.
Speaker 2:Like, had I known, like I didn't even know this program existed. It's called the College Internship Program. No-transcript. My kiddo could have gone right after 18. Oh, and I'm just now finding this out, and he's 22 now and I was like why is this not something of? An option for parents like flashing on a billboard.
Speaker 2:Literally I'm like why this is? This should be options for parents right out the gate. Just okay, here are your options, here's this, here's the routes we can go this shit, just like you would do their peers about college options and everything else, they deserve the same, and so do their parents. That's my soapbox I love it.
Speaker 1:There's a tiny bit of a, so I didn't want to cut you off if I wanted to let you finish, so I didn't. What's ahead? I find myself looking and seeking out these connections with these work, training companies, with these. You know, all of these different individuals throughout the United States and even across the world, and I'm finding out like that's what everybody needs is to be seen and to be heard, because the information is there and nobody can see it. Why can't we make it a little bit easier? Like maybe the government can make just like an autism resources page and everyone can go and put stuff there. But that's hard too, because I mean you want to be doing everything to be vet properly so that it's, you know, ran professionally. Yeah, so slow down my role there, but it's so tricky because we, we want the information there.
Speaker 1:Um, I love groups. I think groups are really important and special. I think that they should be extremely well moderated and looked after on social media, but I think it's a great place for people to come and find resources and information and I think that you know, as hope for parents, like, find those kinds of resources. You know, ask questions, you know ask questions, and I think that that's something that a lot of parents maybe forget that they are going through their day doing the routine and, all of a sudden, five years have passed. And now here I am. What am I supposed to do now?
Speaker 2:You know start asking those questions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and start asking early. Because, like that's one thing I noticed is that you see all these groups when they're little and it carries stuff in high school where it's prom and homecoming and this and that, and then all of a sudden, four years go by and it's quick. And then now what? Because those high school years, I promise you go so fast, and then you're struggling because you and I, I think it's like I don't know if it's this thing with being a parent in high school and you think it's going to be figured out by then and it's not. I think.
Speaker 2:I thought that. I think I was like it'll all be figured out when he graduated. And then he graduated and I'm like he, what? We still haven't figured this out. Holy crap, yeah, no, I'm thinking another OT could figure this out. I'm like all OTs, no in the world, and we have not figured this out yet. You mean, I gotta be the one to start, are you serious? Yeah, I'm like, I'm autistic, I'm not that organized. Time management is not my thing, people, and you're wanting me to start this okay, I love it, I love it, it.
Speaker 1:I couldn't relate more to that, believe me, oh goodness.
Speaker 2:But I encourage parents that have younger kids that kind of like, stay in those kid groups. Those kid groups fall away. Start looking for the older adult groups so you have those resources because you're going to need them. It is detrimental of the information you're going to need need?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, yeah, and you know what. Do you think as a parent of an adult? What types of accommodations for him personally would you be looking for? What are some ideas you can give parents is like accommodations for college, for example.
Speaker 2:It really depends and you have to be. I know parents think really highly of their kids, but you have to sit down and be honest with yourself. What can your kid really do? Can they? Because college?
Speaker 2:If you send them to college, it's basically they're independent, they're on their own Because they're going to have to do everything themselves. They do not have to report to you, that's it. They don't have to share anything with their parent. That's the one thing parents have to remember. It does not matter if they're autistic. They don't have to report anything to you financially, grade-wise, that's it. So if you're going to send them to regular college, can your kid do this? Because on a regular campus it's just for student accessibility. It is not autistic.
Speaker 2:Specific If you feel like they can do the college work but they're not real good with money and the financial aid is real complicated, you might want to have like a power of attorney over their finances. So you have a leg to step on, because it can get real hairy. If you're like, oh, my kid is not, we need a little bit more specifics for him, then I would check out the ones that have the autism. Specific Accessibilities is going to be more expensive, or a transition program like CIP and that way they can go and transition to a two year or a four year, but they're better prepared and they can get those supports because they are trained specifically for autistic adults. I love that and you just have to be realistic. Does your kid actually like school? Is it what they want? Or do they just want to get a job and be like mom? I hate school, this sucks. You just have to know what path they want. If they want to make money if they say they love video games and that's what they want.
Speaker 2:If they want to make money if they say they love video games and that's what they want to do, because they know it's coming, because that's what they love. Don't knock it. Yeah, they may have fine motor skills, because I thought somebody told me just because they love it doesn't mean they can't find a skill in it. They love it. Ask them why they love it. They may have a skill in it that we're not seeing. I interviewed someone who was a career coach. They said it might be they have skills in fine motor and catching detail or they like the socialization so they could go and be somewhere in hotel management. He taught me things outside the box that a video game can do. That's so cool.
Speaker 2:And I was like well, I feel silly, I should have sent my kid to you.
Speaker 1:I love that, oh, and that's why I am a huge proponent of finding those strengths and those passions and building on them. I have just recently done an event where it was called the 1 in 36 Mix Virtual Autism Summit. I wish we would have talked before that and I would have been able to invite you there, but we had employment, trainers and trades people on that work with autistic individuals and occupational therapists as well, and you know just wonderful service providers and opportunities. So maybe I'll throw some of those links in the show notes for this so that we can anybody that you know wants it or needs it can go down and look at those things, because there are so many great the college preparation program, that our internship program that you had talked about that's wonderful resources for people and I think that you know holding.
Speaker 1:Well, for me, I would love to start holding events in my local community so that I can build a little bit more in present community here, um, for him to have these opportunities in the future and, you know, online, just like you and I are both doing. I just want to keep educating, keep getting the word out that you know the numbers, especially, will change in 2025. We'll see a huge increase again and people will act shocked, and that's fine. But the truth of the matter is that the action needs to start taking place in the legislation, in the regulations in insurance all these important places where our community and our community leaders really need to step up and see that the majority of their people that live in their community need these supports.
Speaker 2:Right, and it doesn't stop after 12th grade and it doesn't stop after 21. They may need more assistance a little bit later. A little bit later, they still need a little bit more help. Past their peers, they get this in school where they have all these accommodations because they know okay, we know they're going to be a little behind their peers. What makes you think that changes after 21? They magically, just they're caught up. I can tell you that's a no. My kids still has not learned to drive yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm trying. Does he want to?
Speaker 2:Not really, but weird. I'm like, listen here, I'm not trying to chauffeur you until the day I die.
Speaker 1:Well, especially if he wants to go places. There's a difference between wanting to learn to just know how to do it and then really needing it as a skill or, as you know, something that you need in your life. Like, yeah, I completely agree with that my daughter, she's 12. She needs to learn how to do some cleaning because this mom is not going to follow her into her future relationships and households and she's going to be slob. She better figure it out and she's going to learn how to get her elbows. You know, you got to learn how to get a little dirty sometimes and help figure those things out.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we just we really have to install some things in our kids that you know sometimes might seem repetitive, or that might seem, maybe to outsiders, um, immature or silly or anything, but really just do what you need to do for your own kiddo, based on your own family values and your own decisions within your family, cause that's where all the support is lying, probably Exactly. Yeah, and I do agree with you on that parent coaching. That is a big part and that needs to be better accessible for for parents to get this understanding and knowledge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so hard to get all. It's so much information and some of and it changes so fast because of so much research that comes out, and then our legislature is like so behind and I'm like you guys need to step it up.
Speaker 1:This is so old, oh sorry. Yeah, we definitely, definitely need to see those things happen. So I mean, at this point, you and I, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing. We're going to keep educating, keep putting out, you know, the information, keep helping parents. Please reach out to April at Adulting with Autism podcast If you have a story you might want to share with her, or if you um need resources or have questions about what um can be done or what maybe accommodations that people can you can look for as an adult with autism or a parent with an adult, an autistic adult. However, you'd like to do that Full of information. Yay, tell us your socials and where we can go to find out all of the good stuff.
Speaker 2:You can go on Facebook adultingwithautismcom and I have um t-shirts if you want to buy t-shirts, because my ultimate goal is to start a foundation for young adults with autism. So so once you, once they hit that 21 year old age, that if they need anything to help with housing, mentorship, coaching, you name it they can have it. So and if they want to go to college and those autism supports are real expensive, then they won't have to worry about it. They shouldn't have to.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you so much, april. It's been such a pleasure. I really enjoyed this conversation and I look forward to staying in touch. I know that we're going to need to do some collaborating in the future, for sure.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank you for inviting me onto your podcast.
Speaker 1:It was such a nice conversation. Thank you so, so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
