Your Roadmap to Success
Independent Living with Autism: Your Roadmap to Success is a guide for young adults with autism leaving the shelter of school and looking for guidance in the important tasks of adult life. It is also for the more mature adult who has long struggled with the feeling different from the rest of the world, misunderstanding social cues and being misunderstood, who is finally diagnosed with (or suspects) an autism spectrum disorder. This book will help ASD adults find practical, easy-to-follow guidance in the most important aspects of successful adult life.
Jacob's Story Begins
Meet Jacob, an 18-year-old autistic high school senior who is working towards becoming independent. We'll follow his story as he meets challenges and achieves goals in the areas of communication, relationships, school, employment, and more.
Jacob's Communication Story
Jacob and his dad had communication problems. The more his dad asked him questions, the harder it was for Jacob to answer. When he didn’t answer, his dad asked him more questions. It was a stressful cycle. Find out how they solved their communication challenge:
Jacob’s Social Cues Stories
Jacob, fictional high school senior, had trouble picking up emotional social cues his mother was giving him, which led to frustration on both sides. Read how they found solutions to their social communication issues.
Jacob’s Sensory Stories
Like most autistic folk, Jacob had some unusual or exaggerated responses to sensory experiences. For example, he was a seeker of proprioceptive (deep muscle and joint) and tactile (touch) feedback, and an avoider of olfactory input, or smells. This article shows how these sensory events impacted him, and how he learned to work around them, come up with strategies, or find other ways to meet his sensory needs.
Jacob’s Interests
Jacob loved his mining-crafting video game with a passion, but his dad didn’t really understand why he felt so strongly about it. He was also passionate about the environment, and his mother challenged him to do something about it. Read on for the full story about Jacob and his interests.
Jacob’s Stimming Story
Jacob had a couple of self-regulating stimulatory behaviors, or “stims,” that bothered his parents. He pounded his head, and he rubbed his fingers. Read to find out the purposes of each of these stims and what Jacob decided about which stim he wanted to change for himself, and which stim he asked his parents to ignore or accept.
Jacob’s Time Story
All his life, Jacob’s parents and teachers had told him what to do and when to do it. Now that he was an adult, it was time for him to take charge of his own time management. See how he figured it out.
Jacob’s Transportation Story
Jacob didn’t have a driver’s license, and he didn’t really want to get one. Did he have to learn to drive, just because everyone else his age was driving? Find out how he solved his transportation challenge.
Jacob’s Money Story
Jacob’s spending was getting out of control, and he didn’t understand how it happened or what he could do to manage his money. Read the article to find out how he solved his financial challenges.
Jacob’s Self-Management Story
Jacob couldn’t believe it; he was in danger of failing one of his courses. He got good grades on all of the quizzes, tests, and classroom assignments. So what went wrong? Read he full article to see what went wrong, and Jacob’s plan to manage his own behavior and sole his own problem.
Jacob’s Self-Advocacy Story
Jacob was being bullied, and the coach did nothing to stop it. It was up to him to advocate for himself to get the support he needed, and deserved. Read the full article to find out how he did it.
Jacob’s Disclosure Story
Jacob got paired with a girl for a partner assignment in AP Computer Science. Should he tell her he was autistic? What should he say? Read the full article for Jacob’s disclosure solution.
Jacob’s Clubs & Groups Story
Jacob had a strong desire to do something to help save the planet. It was a gigantic undertaking for any one person, though. He wished he could find other people who felt as strongly as he did about this, people he could talk to, people he could work with to make a difference together. But how was that supposed to happen?
Jacob’s Solitary Pursuits Story
Jacob found a great deal of pleasure in video games, a great way to decompress after a long social day at school. His mother wanted him to quit gaming altogether. How could he convince his mother that gaming was good for him?
Jacob’s Friendship Story
Jacob wanted friends. It’s not that he didn’t have any, but there wasn’t anybody he did things with outside of school. How could he make the shift from school friends who ate lunch together, to being part of a group that hung out on weekends? Read the post to find out what worked for Jacob.
Jacob’s Dating Story
Jacob was excited about the prom. He’d already chosen his prom date: Tiffany, the most beautiful girl on the cheer squad. He just needed some advice on how to ask her to make sure she would say yes. Read Jacob’s Dating Story below.
Jacob’s Readiness-to-Work Story
Jacob didn’t have a job yet. After all, he was still in high school. Still, he could learn readiness skills now that would help him in the future when he had to learn to get along with a boss. He didn’t want to get himself fired before he even had a chance! Read the full post to find out what Jacob learned about readiness-to-work skills.
Jacob’s Job Interview Story
Even though he was still in high school, Jacob wanted to be ready to enter the workforce as an adult. He knew that interviewing for jobs would be difficult for him. The idea of sitting in front of strangers who would ask him questions and judge him made him anxious. Fortunately, his school offered support for meeting this challenge. Read Jacob’s Job Interview Story to find out what worked for him.