Asperger's Syndrome

At the Autism Conference, I had the opportunity to see a documentary called, "Today's Man: Striving Toward Independence". It was a documentary written by a woman whose brother has Asperger's Syndrome. She chronicled his life from birth until the present time. She followed the family's journey through diagnosis until now, when he is 32 years old and still living at home. Then, after the film, the sister and brother came out and answered questions and gave a talk. The boy, Nikky, was hilarious and very open and honest. The bottom line of the talk was that there are not that many options for people with Asperger's after the age of 21. There are not group homes for people who are teetering on the edge of having to live with someone but possibly could be independent with support. The are so many challenges for these individuals. Nikky mentioned that he goes to social skills groups that are led by individuals whose children have autism. He mentioned that he has a hard time holding a job due to the schedules he needs to keep and his rigidity. He does not read social cues very well and some of these situations were displayed in the film. It was the most endearing talk that I have ever been to and it made me so happy that I have chosen to work in the field of special education!