Introduction
Autism is a disease related to the impairment of neural development. This disease is detected in children in their early stages of development especially from between two to three years.
The disorder is characterized by its effect on the social development of the child and in most instances poorly developed speech.
The infected child may also portray some restricted and repeated kind of behavior. The disorder starts with an effect on the brain and nerve cells that affects the process of information coding in the brain.
According to Freedman (75), this disorder has been on rising in children drawing the attention of many researchers worldwide. Autism is a long life-threatening disability as it affects the way a victim senses, hears, and sees things.
For the case of autism, what is mainly affected is the social behavior of the victim. It affects the way one is supposed to socialize and sometimes communicate within a given community. Children with autism disorder should be handled with great care.
They should be given extra attention from the onset of this disorder. This is because the way they are handled at the early stages will influence their behavior in the society in their adult stages of development.
This paper seeks to explore how a family with a low aged teenager with this disorder on a mid-spectrum can learn on educational institutions and resources that would accommodate the teenager and employment organizations and resources that would help the teenager when he or she is an adult in society.
Learning on Educational Institutions and Resources That Would Accommodate the Teenager
Zimmerman (90) argues that the characteristics of autism disorder vary from one victim to another. This scholar points out that not even two autism victims portray similar symptoms.
This makes it complex to learn and understand the educational institutions and resources that can accommodate this teenager.
However, a common way towards understanding the resources and educational institutions for the teenager is by closely identifying the specific knowledge, ability, interest and by generally understanding the personality of this teenager.
This includes the communication patterns of the teenager, the extent of social relations and the unusual behavioral characteristics of the teenager in the environment. The autism teenager may be active or feel withdrawn.
It is very important to understand whether this teenage fall in the group of autism victims that are very active or in that of those feel withdrawn in the society to identify an institution that best fits the teenager as well as the resources to be allocated for the same.
Autistic patients, unlike other normal students, have concentration problems, for example, in a football game, an autistic student may decide to watch the ball as it rolls instead of concentration on to whom it is directed.
Apart from monitoring the behavior of this teenager, there is a need for parents to seek medical help from the professionals. These autistic professionals in most cases will be in a position to diagnose the problem and give advice on the respective educational institutions for this teenager.
A good example is demonstrated in British Columbia where these professionals after autistic diagnosis all autistic students with a similar degree of effect are taken to various learning institutions, which best suit them (Varin-Mignano 87).
In the institutions, these students are provided with the relevant learning materials that help in molding their speech and social behavior.
Teachers and the family should encourage Visual teaching by use of pictography to the teenager since they can easily deliver different information. The teenager family should inquire from schools and colleges for the best learning institutions for the teenager.
In choosing the educational institution, the parents should pay visits to the school of choice and check the options including the school program. In most cases at that age, many autistic teenagers always join colleges or schools already aware of their autistic state (Gabriels 67).
Teaching methods for autism students do not apply to all. Hence there is a need to monitor regularly the performance of this teenager while in a learning institution.
This is necessary so that in case the teaching method applied do not favor the teenager an individual education plan can be adopted for better performance.
Employment Organizations and Resources to Help the Teenager in Adulthood in the Society
Awareness of children with automatism has tremendously grown. Through the media like internet, much is shared on helping the autistic children. However, these children are highly neglected while in their adult age.
From the above discussion, it is clear that victims of autism have social relationships problems. However, these social problems do again vary. Some victims are over social and very active in society while others just feel withdrawn from any activity in the society.
Adults diagnosed with autism are faced with employment opportunities. Dawson (118) points out that autistic adults face discrimination in working institutions.
Before this teenager finishes college or so, the parents should make efforts towards accommodating this young adult into society. They should find other parents with children having the same problem and find out some useful information from them.
Information on employment organizations for such children can be discussed. Adults with autistic spectrum just like any other can qualify for job opportunities. However, such people require a working environment that strongly understands them.
Their limited abilities, skills, and interests may make it hard to cope with the non-disabled in the workplace. Some organizations and societies are autistic unfriendly; this should be considered to find better ways of helping this teenager.
Adults with this disorder can comfortably work with organizations under a manager that is trained to deal with such people. For this teenager to overcome the transitional to adulthood successfully there is a need for collaborative efforts of both the family members and the society.
The resources required to achieve successful adulthood of this teenager vary. These resources majorly depend on how severe the symptoms are. The family and society should find an autistic support program organization where the teenager would frequently visit for training and practices.
The teenager parents should seek further guidance and help from organizations specialized in autism like the National Autistic Society.
Such organizations would provide very relevant and effective information on Employment organizations and resources to help the teenager in adulthood in society.
Conclusion
Autism is a disability like any other. Victims of this disorder should not be treated in isolation. For many years’ autistic victims have to face social discrimination in several fields. However, things have taken another course in the modern world.
Countries have formulated and implemented policies that address and cater to the needs of these special people in society. Communities need to be autistic friendly. There is a need for a collaborative approach to be applied in shaping the autistic patients to fit in society.
For these people with autism spectrum problem and another disabled group to enjoy an independent life, they require continuous encouragement and moral support from their respective families and society.
Works Cited
Dawson, Geraldine. Autism: Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment. New York: Guilford Press, 1989. Print.
Freedman, Jeri. Autism. New York: Rosen Pub, 2009. Print.
Gabriels, Robin. Autism: From Research to Individualized Practice. London: Kingsley, 2003. Print.
Varin-Mignano, Regina. Autism: A Holistic View. New York: Createspace, 2008. Print.
Zimmerman, Andrew. Autism: Current Theories and Evidence. Totowa: Humana Press, 2008. Print.