Integrating Young Adults with Asperger Syndrome with
Typically Developing Peers: An Essential Step in the Transition to Independence
Kyle Avery, Ramapo for
Children
For many young adults on the spectrum, especially those with
Asperger Syndrome, comfortable interaction with typically developing peers is
more a dream than a reality. Yet when they transition to college or the work
force, the ability to socialize becomes a prerequisite for success. To grow
their social and emotional skills, these young adults need safe opportunities
to interact with typically developing peers. This is why Ramapo for Children’s
Staff Assistant Experience provides an integrated, inclusive environment to
help young adults with social, emotional, or learning challenges transition to
independence.
Roadblocks on the
Path to Independence
Regardless of challenges, all youth seek the same things: to
learn, have friends, feel valued, and experience success. Once high school
ends, the most common paths to those goals are college or work. But teens with
autism spectrum disorders like Asperger Syndrome can experience alienation
instead of achievement on these paths due to their characteristic lag in social
skills. Some colleges offer programs that support young adults with special
needs, but their focus is primarily academic and does little to mitigate the
discomfort that those with social and emotional challenges face in the less
structured campus environment. Offices and work environments are even less
forgiving, and poor social skills are often cited as a primary source of
difficulties when young adults with special needs enter the workplace.
The greatest obstacle between the young adults who
experience these setbacks and their ability to align their behaviors with their
aspirations is the opportunity to practice social situations. In an
unstructured environment, entering conversations can be a terrifying and
confidence-destroying prospect, and real-time debriefing either is not an
option or comes in the form of admonishment instead of support. The only way to
improve social skills is to repeatedly take part in interactions until they
become part of daily routine. Additionally, receiving constructive feedback
based on those interactions is a great, underutilized tool to supportively help
young adults improve their communication skills, recognize their strengths and
weaknesses, and work to address them. Ramapo for Children takes the trepidation
out of social interaction by fully immersing young adults with their typically
developing peers and providing a safe space where mistakes and missteps become
opportunities for improvement.
The Staff Assistant
Experience: Supporting Young Adults in Transition
The Staff Assistant Experience is a residential
transition-to-independence program for young adults with social, emotional, or
learning challenges. The program offers participants an opportunity to improve
and reinforce interpersonal, independent living, and job skills, build
resilience and determination, and establish a future orientation. The program,
based at Ramapo for Children’s Rhinebeck campus, is designed for young adults
ages 18 to 25 who seek self-sufficiency and independence, but who have
struggled in other, less supportive environments.
The Staff
Assistant Experience Helps Participants Develop:
·
Independent Living Skills—Ramapo provides
coaching and instruction on such tasks as meal planning, shopping, cooking,
cleaning, and household budgeting.
·
Social Skills—Ramapo provides a variety of
social opportunities and special community events that foster positive
interactions and encourage friendships.
·
Job Skills—Ramapo provides meaningful work
opportunities to teach universally applicable vocational skills and help Staff
Assistants manage relationships in the workplace.
Roommates, Job
Coaches, Mentors: Immersion with Typically Developing Peers
The unique blending of social, work, and home life with
typically developing peers is a hallmark of SAE. Participants live and work
alongside these peers, who are their coworkers, colleagues, mentors, roommates,
and friends. Being fully immersed with understanding and supportive peers who
have greater social and emotional aptitude enables participants to gain comfort
in social situations and provides ample opportunity to practice skill building.
Participants receive immediate constructive feedback on social and professional
development that recognizes their strengths and helps them improve their
weaknesses. As one Staff Assistant noted about his experience on campus, “No
one judges me, because everyone, kids and staff alike, are here to improve
their skills and learn new things.” With everyone on the way to new
achievements, missteps are taken in stride.
Building Social and
Emotional Confidence One Day at a Time
These one-on-one interactions and skill support, along with
the structured and inclusive environment, have helped Staff Assistants gain
skills in everything from becoming more open-minded and starting conversations
with peers, to slowing down and enunciating speech to facilitate conversations.
With social and emotional skills broken down into achievable tasks, then
modeled and reinforced by peers, everyday interactions that were once
terrifying become manageable for Staff Assistants. The ease they gain on campus
is directly applicable to future experiences in the workforce, higher
education, or simply the everyday opportunities that enrich a young adult’s
life.
Just as importantly, the Staff Assistant Experience helps
participants feel like a part of a team in a way they never have before. With
their colleagues and roommates, they’re “just one of the guys,” a member of the
Ramapo family who can joke around with colleagues and have meaningful
conversations with roommates without fear of rejection. The opportunity to be
seen not as a diagnosis but as a friend and peer is what makes the Staff
Assistant Experience work, and it’s what guides the Staff Assistants to new
heights of independence and aptitude.
In addition to the
Staff Assistant Experience, Ramapo for Children provides a residential summer
camp for children ages 6 to 16 who are affected by social, emotional, or
learning challenges; year-round retreats for young people, educators, and other
community-based organizations; and adult training programs. For more
information about Ramapo for Children or the Staff Assistant Experience, please
visit www.ramapoforchildren.org
or contact Kyle Avery at (646) 588-2308 or kavery@ramapoforchildren.org.