Wednesday, November 16, 2011

'What Happens When They Become Adults?'

Like most teenagers, 18-year-old Ryan Wall enjoys playing sports, attending high school football games and dances, and socializing with friends. But as Ryan nears the end of his senior year at Naperville Central, his parents face an unsettling question … now what?
Theirs is not the usual anxiety of parents whose children must choose between college and work. Ryan is autistic. Although Naperville has a transitional program after high school to help prepare him for adulthood, those services will end the day before he turns 22.
For his mother and father, Jama and Bob Wall, thinking about the decisions that have to be made can be overwhelming. Where is he going to live and work? Who is going to take care of him when they are gone?

As Jama Wall said, “With more and more kids being diagnosed, what happens when they become adults?”

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