Early Invention Is The Key To Success

Finally!! Those who can assist parents in helping their children recently diagnosed with autism have realized that early intervention is the key to success. I have struggled with spreading this concept from the time Jacob was diagnosed. As a pediatric nurse and a mother, I knew that Jacob was special very early on. This was 1998 and Autism wasn't even a word anyone knew about. I took Jacob to a specialist who diagnosed him with Autism.

Immediately, I went into "mom" mode. I started researching everything I could possibly find on the internet. There was not much information out there then and what was available was horrific. Long story short  - children with this disorder "needed to be put into homes because they would never amount to anything".  Well, that just infuriated me. I would be damned if anyone told me my son could not be absolutely anything he wanted and he could succeed and meet whatever goals he made for himself.

As his mother, a nurse, an advocate; I have worked raising awareness for not only Autism Awareness but more importantly to me, Autism Acceptance. I have a great example of what ACCEPTANCE should be the main priority for those with Autism. I have a small green puzzle piece tattoo on my right hand. Now, mind you, I have many other tattoos but all of them can be covered with clothes if need be EXCEPT my puzzle piece. This was a strategic move on my part. When I  first meet someone, I firmly shake their hand with my right hand. Since getting this tattoo, nine out of ten people will ask me what is means. AAAHHHAAA!!! Gotcha!! The door is opened for me to spread autism acceptance and the miraculous human being that is my son.

The Importance of Going To College

The Importance of Going To College

I know for a fact that it's important. You have a statistically higher chance of getting a better job with better benefits, better pay, and a high level of living than people who don't go to college. Also, most of the jobs in the world require a higher form of education than others. Even McDonald's doesn't accept people who don't have a version of higher education. This is taken in account of the higher living costs of today that has about doubled in the past decade or so because of the rise of resource consumption, living costs, and living quality. And the types of yesterday are declining to the jobs of today. Jobs such as nurses, farmers, and metal workers are declining while programming, electronic design, and animation are on the rise.


It seems to show that hands-on are declining while the jobs that aren't hands on are rising. So the fields of today's  jobs are narrowed and more fit for that section then the all-around type of jobs  which has lead to a rise of technical colleges that specialize in certain fields and a lower percentage of people going to 4-year colleges compared to people who are going to technical colleges. So because of hands-on jobs that are declining, people are being laid off because of automated services or businesses going out of business. These people are put on SSI because of losing their jobs and they are given a certain amount of time to find another job. But the problem is because they never learned about this newer jobs and never went to college in the first place or never went back, they are unable to get another job because they don't have the relative information that let businesses hire them.

Jacob's College Ambitions

Jacob's Thoughts on Exceptional Minds

I am not 17 years old and I am going to be a senior at North Star High School. After that, I want to go to college. My mom found a college that would help me and it's a college that I would love to go. It's a college for people with Autism and they help them learn animation, graphic design, Adobe certification  and more. To be honest, I would love to go. It seems like a great place to go and it can help me with my dreams of becoming an animator. I looked at the website and I feel that I would enjoy my experience there. I admit there's probably going to be classes that I won't understand or like, but I think some of those classes might be necessary to help me. It is located in California and while I am nervous if I was to move there, I think it would be an enlightening feeling. 

It would be an experience that I would enjoy. I feel excited that I have the opportunity to go to a college that can help  me. They have been to several places like Disney, VFX studios, Dolby-Digital and more. Their graduates helped make Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. they take their time with students and most are summer students. Surprisingly, the graduating class of 2014 had 5 students in it. 

Exceptional mids is a technical school that lasts three years, but I think it would be worth it. They have caring teachers that understand the needs of the students and are willing to help them with whatever problem they can solve that can help the student.

I feel that it is the right place for me for several reasons. One, it will help me get the job that I want and have always dreamed of. Two, it can show me a new culture of a state I have never been to while expanding my horizons. And finally, it will be an environment that is comfortable to me and will help me improve my skills in leadership and my social skills.

They don't just help with getting skills for your job requirements. They can help with, as I said, getting you adjusted to a leadership role and to help with your social skills. They are even willing to employ you as part of an actual studio if you can't find a job when you graduate. I think this school would be perfect for me and I will do anything that is necessary to get in. It seems like an all around good school and I hope that I will enjoy getting to meet new people and master my craft. It would be an honor to go to Exceptional Minds. That is what I think and feel about college right now.

This is Phoenix, signing off.

Transitioning from an IEP to a 504 - Part 2

Here we are, half way through Autism Awareness Month. The time has flown by. I have decided to write a little on the schedule for transitioning. I talked about Autism in its early infliction on our children. This led us down the path of what we need to know for transitioning later in life. The transition from high school to adulthood is the most difficult transition, not because of the young adults inability to be somewhat flexible but because the laws DRASTICALLY change during this period. Your child will go from having many rights under both federal and state laws regarding their education to very few laws to assist them or their families. I want to break it down for you so you can see it side by side.

There is a really simple, easy reading paper regarding the transition stage that breaks down each step very well. Transitioning from an IEP to a 504 can be very difficult and confusing. You should prepare yourself and your child early. After you review the article on this kind of transitioning, please see the LiveBinder that I put together to aid in all aspects of transitioning into adulthood. You won't be disappointed. Remember -
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER FOR AUTISM AWARENESS


Regards,
~ Holley Jacobs                         

Click here to open this binder in a new window.

Adult Transition Success

I have been writing about the transition of young adults with special needs (particularly those on the Autism Spectrum) and have noticed something new in my son. I then did a little research and found other young adults who have also had a positive experience in transitioning.



First, Jacob does not do well with transitioning of anything. It makes him very anxious and uncomfortable so we tend to keep our lives on a pretty rigid program. Jacob works better when he has structure so I was not sure how things would go considering the way the school system works here. The students take classes from August to December and then new classes from January to May. The classes might be the same such as English or Government, but Jacob does not get the same teacher every time. 

Transitioning through this process has been hard during his time in high school. The first year was the worst because he was transitioning from middle to high school which is HUGE for any student but then he had to become accustomed to switching class topics and teacher halfway through the year. That was hard on him and I felt horrible but it was a life lesson that he has to learn to overcome. 

Since that time, he has gradually gotten better at the changes in the middle of the year but it seems as soon as he gets comfortable his life is turned upside down with new classes and new teachers. The PowerPoint that we made is updated each time he gets new teachers and he presents it each time. That has been a plus as far as the changes in classes halfway through the year. He has gained a lot of experience in self-disclosure and feels more comfortable talking to others about his disabilities. I am very proud of him for that. We started when he was 12 years old learning how he can and will disclose his disabilities. 

Jacob has been disclosing some of his disabilities to new friends he makes after a certain amount of time. He has never shown any of them the PowerPoint he did, but he talks with each one individually. He does this so that if they have any questions, they are not discouraged or embarrassed by having others around. This has been great for Jacob's social skills. He now has a "cliché" of friends since tenth grade. Since social skills have always been hard for Jacob, making AND keeping friends is a HUGE accomplishment. I could not be more proud of my only child. There is a fine line between disclosing and being discriminated for it so Jacob's ability to self-advocate is truly remarkable. However, I want to stress that these changes need to be in place from day one of diagnosis. Early Intervention is the key to successfully reached children on the Spectrum to the fullest capacity.

I also found a great little webpage that lists some other youths who have gone through transitions called Stories of Transitions to the Adult World and although the stories of these four people are dated to 2003, they still apply greatly to our children today. As you will read, the author points out how transition to adulthood is hard on every young person. However, then you add having disabilities on top of that and the only thing left as a parent to do is to GIVE MORE SUPPORT. That is my motto and I have stuck with those three simple rules during Jacob's entire life. 

We look at the future and chose to image the best; then we make SMART goals and go from there. This is how we have always focused on Jacob's education and life goals. If you have never heard of SMART goals or could use some support in developing SMART goals, make sure to check out the link. They not only explain what SMART goals are but help you in deciding how to write them. We use the program for his transitioning steps and it has worked great. I am happy to have found this site because Jacob can use the site continuing after high school transition into adulthood. Transition is hard, but not impossible. 

DREAM BIG, CONQUER ANYTHING!!