Has this question ever come up for you in the past? I know many families who have contacted me to discuss this looking for advice.
Did you know over 500,000 children with autism in the U.S. will reach adulthood within the next decade? In order to address the importance of this transition in our community I gave a TEDTalk at TEDxMorristown’s Annual Conference to discuss what happens to children with autism, when they become adults based on my own experiences growing up on the autism spectrum. The talk I’m happy to share is now available to watch on YouTube below…
TEDxMorristown shared about the talk…
“Kerry Magro is an award winning national speaker and best-selling author. Kerry has become a role model in the disabled community. Non-verbal at 2.5 and diagnosed with autism at 4, Kerry has overcame countless obstacles to get to where he is today. From the TEDxMorristown stage, Kerry shares his own story and the stories of others as he asks us to consider the life trajectory of those like himself as they face the world as adults.”
The popular image of autism today currently focuses on children. While early intervention is the key, children with autism will grow up to be adults with autism. We need to discuss topics such as employment, housing, postsecondary and guardianship as these children become adults. Parents should begin to look at ABLE along with special needs financial planning in their local area to start saving for their child today. Also being able to have a will is so very important. Having open and honest conversations with family memberships and other members of your village on who can look out for someone severely impacted by autism is also of utmost importance.
In the spirit of the topic to adulthood, if you may be looking at postsecondary for your child, You can watch my first TEDTalk via TEDxJerseyCity called “The will of opportunity – the path of autism to college” on YouTube below. In my talk here I discuss my road to receiving a college degree and today giving scholarships for students with autism to pursue a post-secondary education that you can read more about here.
