We Celebrate April as Autism Awareness Month

April is National Autism Awareness Month.  At Erie Homes for Children and Adults (EHCA), we offer services to adults aged 21 and older who have an Autism Spectrum Disorder in our Autism Waiver Program.  Many autism services are offered to children, so this program helps to fill the gap after adults with autism age out of those childhood services.

Paul Pastrano, a 25-year-old living with Asperger Syndrome, participates in our Autism Waiver Program.  One of our staff members, Connie George, visits Pastrano in his Meadville, PA, home regularly and works with him 20 hours a week on improving his housekeeping skills, cooking abilities, and social interactions. Pastrano lives independently and has been receiving these services since August 2009, when the program first started.

“Since Paul has been in the program, he has become more outgoing and social. We’ve worked on his cleaning and cooking skills. We are also working on budgeting, meal planning, and learning how to make his supplies last,” explains George.  “He is working on his future goals.”

Pastrano also benefits from a local food pantry for some of his groceries.  It’s become a fun challenge for Pastrano and George to come up with recipes and meal ideas using some of the more unusual food items that he receives in his basket.  They will scour the Internet and cookbooks looking for new ideas to try, depending on what ingredients he has to cook with.

In addition, Pastrano has had the opportunity to network with peers and visit new places.

“The Autism Waiver Program has been good for me,” says Pastrano, “because it’s helped me feel not as isolated.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 in 110 people have an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  This year, of the approximate 4 million children who will be born, about 36,500 of them will eventually be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The national consortium of organizations known as Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism recognizes that roughly 80 percent of people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder are under the age of 22, but that in the next few years, many of those children will become adults.  EHCA is proud to be one of the first providers for adults with autism in this area.

For more information on the Autism Waiver Program and the referral process, please contact Bernadett Wilson at (814) 454-1534.

The mission of EHCA is to assist people with disabilities to live rich and fulfilling lives by providing quality, comprehensive and accessible residential and community-based services for children and adults with developmental disabilities throughout Erie, Crawford, Venango, and Potter Counties.   Since 1912, EHCA has been caring for local individuals and striving to help everyone served reach their full potential.