ADULTS WITH AUTISM 
Jackie Fuller speaks about the sense of isolation experienced by her adult autistic son, Mark.

Mark wants more than anything to have friends and a social life. He wants to live independently from his family. He is too high functioning to be happy spending his days in a sheltered workshop environment, but too low functioning to be included in the lives of co-workers in his regular work setting. He lacks the social and communication skills required for any kind of meaningful, normal interaction with the regular people he comes into contact with every day.

This lack of personal friendships leaves Mark feeling isolated, lonely, and depressed. He worries constantly that his situation will never change, and lives with a frustrated awareness of his inability to achieve the next goal in his life. For years, he has believed completely that if he worked hard, stayed focused and on track in his job, that his dream of having his own home would, by consequence, be realized. This hope of finding Supported Living has been the main motivation for Mark each day. It consumes his every thought.

He depends on us to find him that home. We explain that the long waiting lists, shortage of funding, and lack of facilities is making this task very difficult. He has heard this over and over through the years, and grows more anxious, disappointed, and confused by the situation. He worries he will never be able to have what we have promised him for so long. And so do we.

I have tried a number of ways to find activities where Mark can meet other autistics, or mentally challenged people whose development is similar to his, but have come to the conclusion that there is just nothing available in the Nashville area. I have attempted to acquire information from the Health Department, and other government agencies regarding available numbers of autistic adults living in our area, but thus far have found no such accounting kept by any governmental agency.

I contacted AGAPE, an organization located in Nashville that offers faith-based counseling for depression, anxiety, emotional or behavioral challenges for children and adults. I asked them for counseling and possible social contacts for Mark. They were very kind and helpful, meeting with us more than once, but they simply were not in the position to counsel Mark because his autism is beyond their scope of expertise. Mark’s most exasperating difficulty is that he has never found a group that he could call his own.

This is just as true for him now as an adult as it was when he was younger, and in school. This is a common problem for autistics, finding one’s own particular peer group. Each autistic is different in their degree of difficulty and in the range of their disability. Not every autistic has other conditions that affect the brain, such as mental retardation, or other genetic or developmental disorders. An autistic can have none, or one, or all of these other conditions. Most want to live either at home, or in an appropriate-for-their-needs community environment.

Mark was fortunate to be born at a time when the public schools were mandated to provide a free and appropriate education for all children with special needs. Prior to that federal mandate, families that needed and asked for assistance for their disabled child were given only one choice: placement in a state institution. However, after Mark moved out of the school system, and through the vocational training at the sheltered workshop, little to no outside support for adding social structure, and meaning to his life, can be found.

It seems to me a registry of signatures by adult autistics, like Mark, seeking residential availability and/or social activities, would be an excellent contact forum for those inside the autistic community who desire interaction with others. This kind of registry is one that needs more research and development.

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