Excerpt:

The excerpt comes from pages 1-3 of Becoming Remarkably Able …

Introduction
Sitting in a bookstore cafe on a rainy afternoon, I read a quote by Theodore Roethke, "I learn by going where I have to go." That phrase describes the direction I chose to take 25 years ago. That "path" led me to solutions to help my son Trent eventually live an adult life with meaning and purpose.

Trent was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. After asking many questions and searching for answers, I decided to move ahead with the conviction that he would reach a full, happy, and independent life as an adult, despite having autism. There isn't anything in the Walking the Path model in this book that I haven't questioned, tested, retested, studied, tried professionally and, equally important, initiated personally with my son. The book is grounded in (a) quality-of-life research on people with disabilities within the past 23 years, (b) tools and strategies I learned through trial and error and approaches other students and families have used, and (c) findings from my own research of 15 young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who achieved independent living, employment, and enjoyment and acceptance in activities with people with whom they feel safe and accepted.

Walking the Path (WP) is a practical model for youth with ASD and developmentally disabilities (DD) who are in transition from adolescence to adulthood. It is a creative, action-oriented process to discover a student's strengths and gifts. With supports, it will lead the student to employment, leisure, and greater community independence.

Perhaps you are a parent, advocate, or professional:

• concerned about the quality of a student's adolescent or adult years?
• seeking help to build a more meaningful life for a son/daughter?
• wanting to know how the young adult can enter integrative community settings and have opportunities to continue grow personally?
• desiring to learn what steps to take so the young adult can access employment, attend college, participate in leisure/hobby, or have more independence?
• curious about the future because you have a child or work with children diagnosed with autism or other severe disabilities?

If you are facing any of these issues or concerns, the WP will be helpful to you. The information presented here is based upon the following premises:

1. Each adolescent or young adult is special and can develop to his or her fullest potential.

2. Individuals with diverse levels of severity can benefit from the ideas and activities presented here to become more capable in all areas of living. Labels such as "high functioning" and "low functioning" are not the criteria to determine if the model is applicable. WP can help guide all individuals regardless of the disability severity. Labels serve no purpose here.

3. Every student or young adult has a viable gift, strength, and/or interest that may only need uncovering to blossom.

4. Supports or accommodations are necessary in order for a person to explore and identify strengths that will open different community settings.

5. We never stop learning and growing. Therefore, making progress in skill development and personal growth in adulthood is a not a myth, but a reality. Indeed, growth continues into adulthood.

6. "Independent living" refers to persons with a disability living at their highest capability level regardless of the "supports" that assist them in participating in everyday activities, such as having a job or living in an apartment or house. A person who reaches "independent living" may do so with few supports. Yet, a person can also live "independently" with all kinds of supports. Thus, "independent living" means never going it alone.

Youth see in themselves what we see in them. Each has the most basic right to enjoy continued growth, find happiness, and contribute something positive to the world. We are all essentially "advocates," to include the person with ASD or DD, family members, professionals, and the community. As all of us create a larger vision of a student's capabilities, the greater will be his willingness to act upon personal strengths and gifts that we acknowledge and support. In other words, a student with a disability will see how capable he can become through our eyes. My highest vision is that any person with any disability can deeply feel or say, "I belong; I matter; I am accepted."

Currently, there are few positive examples of people with severe disabilities living with purpose and independence in the community. In the midst of critical resource shortages, families with youth who have more involved disabilities are desperate for options. Information and governmental support programs that provide knowledge and the "how to" of establishing community living are often nonexistent. Many families see no other choice but to keep a young adult at home, in a day program, or in a sheltered workshop.

Disability list serves on the Internet make daily announcements of parental family struggles, crises, and tragic outcomes for children and adults who are either without resources and services or living isolated. But there is good news. Parents and professionals are rallying together to demand and work toward community outcomes for youth other than the current options. Many parents are unwilling to accept isolation and/or day programs that limit the young adult's growth or fail to promote independence and well-being.

The WP Process
Walking the Path provides a process that includes all stakeholders in creating options that promote personal growth in youth and greater community participation. The process is multifaceted and multidimensional. It is not linear. You will not find a consecutive, step-by-step approach. That is not possible with any creative process. You start with a blank slate and then you guide the adolescent/young adult into the exploratory process. You do not necessarily know what you will learn or discover. Surprising outcomes have occurred during this exploration, such as being referred to someone who will teach a particular skill, being offered a paid job with the support to learn tasks, joining an exercise club where a volunteer retired military officer will coach the young adult in developing strength and using the machines, or an upper-level college student guiding and supporting a freshman in her first semester of college.