July 5, 2023, KSL TV, Salt Lake City: Adults with autism face ‘invisible crisis’ due to shortage of services in Utah https://ksltv.com/564964/adults-with-autism-face-invisible-crisis-due-to-shortage-of-services-in-utah/
Public schools provide a variety of necessary services to children and teens with autism, but there is a lack of adequate support for adults who have aged out of the system, according to a new report.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Utah Parent Center and the Utah State University Institute for Disability, Research, Policy and Practice recently partnered with the Madison House Autism Foundation and the Columbus Community Center on a pilot program to highlight the gaps in services for autistic adults and promote solutions.
Sumiko Martinez, state director of autism and one of the authors of the Autism After 21 Utah Project, said the report focuses on the everyday obstacles adults with autism can face in the state….
Martinez said there are services for adults with autism in Utah, but most are clustered along the Wasatch Front, putting them out of reach for many people who live in the rural parts of the state.
A couple families interviewed for the report said they had to “split their household” — with one parent and a child living along the Wasatch Front for part of the week to access services.
“That’s a crummy feeling, especially when you love where you live and
don’t necessarily want to move,” Martinez said. “Just the sheer financial burden of that and the emotional toll of not being able to be with your family because there are, literally, not the support services. This has been a problem for a long time.”
In some areas where there are mental health or other services, Martinez described a “constant churn” of providers, making it difficult for patients to develop long-lasting relationships.
One of the key recommendations she gave cities and towns is to work with professional associations and incentivize providers staying in rural areas….
The most common needs that survey respondents expressed were for housing, belonging and friendship. There’s often a stigma that autistic people are less social, said Anna Smyth, a consultant who co-authored the report….
There are an estimated 32,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live with caregivers who are over the age of 60, Martinez said, which puts them at risk if their caregiver becomes unable to take care of them.
“There aren’t as many services as there need to be, so this crisis is really something that is building and building, but it’s happening outside of the public view for the most part. It’s really an invisible crisis in a lot of ways,” she said.
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In addition to the availability of services and inclusive spaces, advocates say general awareness and understanding can go a long way.
“A lot of people think autism is visible normally in children,” said Whitney Lee, who organized the Neurodiverse Utah community on Facebook. “This leaves adults who don’t fit what people have as a stereotype without access to services from anywhere from education to employment to health care.”
Lee said government agencies — and police departments, in particular — should hire people who are trained to help people with autism….
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