I spent the earlier part of this week in Phoenix, where I attended the dedication of a room at a brand-new vocational center for adults with autism. It's part of the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC), and it gave me a peek into what's possible when people think broadly and imaginatively about what it takes to serve our community.
The center, called the Opus West Vocational and Life Skills Academy, provides training in daily living skills, vocational skills, as well as job readiness and placement services for adults with autism. Everything was conceived to support the students while maximizing their learning opportunities: a technology center, a rec room, "The Loft," an apartment-like series of rooms for socializing and life skills education, a kitchen and a garden where the students can grow vegetables which they will eventually harvest, make into soup and sell locally. There's even a "touchdown" area with tiny cubicles meant to help the students practice telephone conversations. It's a dream--quite literally--come true.
Closest to my heart, and the reason I was there, is a classroom called "Camilla's Crew," in which the staff offers vocational training to people with autism. The teachers assess the clientele--their strengths, preferences, challenges--and then work with them to develop the types of skills that will help them land and keep a job.
Camilla is my cousin, and she'll be 14 this year. She's lucky to have this resource, which was developed on a foundation of so many collective years of experience, love, learning and success.
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