8 · SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2017 TRICKY TRANSITION Move to adulthood not always easy for those on the autism spectrum By nearly every measure, Joe Ortman’s transition from high school to adulthood, while still in progress, has been highly successful. Diagnosed with autism at age 9, Ort-man, who graduated from Hampton High School, just completed his junior year at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, where he is a psychology major who hopes to work with children with autism after graduation. He is often asked to speak about au-tism with various groups and classes on campus. In the summers, he has a job at The Woodlands Foundation in Bradford Woods, working with children and adults with disabilities and chronic illness. He recently wrote a piece for the Woodlands website discussing the need for more un-derstanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. A big part of his success has been his abil-ity to self-advocate, said his mother, Dori. That’s the No. 1 piece of advice she can of-fer parents whose children are entering that transition phase of their lives. “He knows how to tell people what he wants and needs, but kids have to have that instilled in them,” she said. “They have to know they’re going to need to stand up for themselves and express what they need and want. Make sure their self-advocacy skills are on point.” Transitioning isn’t always easy, however, and as the saying goes, if you’ve met one child with autism, you’ve met one child with autism. Many parents of children with a diagno-sis on the spectrum fear, for good reason, what will happen when youth services end and the comfort and routine of going to school every day is over. Mary Hartley is a consultant with 21 and Able, a program of the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania that has In the summer, Joe Ortman, who was diagnosed with autism at age 9, has a job at The Woodlands Foundation in Bradford Woods. received national recognition for its efforts to help young adults make a smooth transi-tion to adulthood, including opportunities for employment and independent living. It can be a confusing time, she said, be-cause youth and adult support systems are funded differently. If families don’t get connected early enough, they have a much greater chance of falling off the cliff, so to speak. However, Hartley does believe the way the opportu-nities for kids with autism have changed in recent years is promising. For example, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 ensured that students with disabilities receive access to such services as job exploration counsel-ing, work-based learning experiences and instruction in self-advocacy. It also ensured that states use 15 percent SUBMITTED PHOTOS ADAPTING & ADJUSTING BY KAREN PRICE
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