Madison House Autism Foundation

Winning would increase the awareness that children with autism become adults with autism. After graduation there is a service “cliff” with few supports existing to ensure their potential is maximized. Little is done to include autistic adults in our communities and yet their abilities may enhance not only their lives but ours. It will take effort on the part of thought leaders, policymakers, legislators, educators, mayors, builders and many others. Two percent of our citizens are on the autism spectrum and they and their families are often placed in a position of isolation and financial hardship when adulthood occurs. Parents ask, “what will happen to my child when I am no longer around?” One parent stated, “I pray I will live one day longer than my autistic son!” We inform communities on what is happening as 100,000 autistic students in the United States become adults every year. We started a statewide pilot built on our 13 years of experience as the only organization looking at the lifespan issues of adults with autism and related conditions. We also provide answers about housing, policy and community engagement. This Prize can help us help families and help us fund our efforts.

Having been a global photographer, press secretary, arts administrator and entrepreneur did not prepare me for 2020, which has been personally devastating.

• March:  I returned from Utah where we were planning to launch a pilot program; the next day we were sequestered. 

• March:  We pivoted to serve our in-person, at-risk clients, on line, on our organization’s farm.

• My husband’s business partner went missing and was found dead on Mother’s Day because of the stress of Covid. My husband now heads the company and spends two weeks in Maryland and two weeks working on life saving research.

• July: My husband, autistic son and I battled Covid for 51 days. Fearing our son would be hospitalized without people he knew with him.    

• We lost several friends and neighbors to Covid, two friends committed sucide and we lost two major supporters.

• Son’s support staff had serious cases of Covid.

• Developed a shipping company to send out handmade soap and masks, our son’s artwork on them, to vulnerable populations.

•      Grew 5000 pounds of produce for local food banks.

•      Launched a Pilot program for national adult autism blueprint.

•      Had 90 photographic images published in a book on Human Dignity.

                               Me over the last 18 months.

We began small and saw that there is a huge need to help adults on the autism spectrum and their families.

We take a comprehensive look at what makes a life successful. Many of us have those things at our fingertips and take it for granted. Selection of where we want to live, inclusion in community events, if we desire, employment opportunities, medical specialists that understand unique needs, university or training programs that fill our particular goals, opportunities for independence and friends that we can be with after five o’clock and on weekends, supports when we need help and a voice in planning for things that involve us and our future. These are things that most autistic adults have access to on a limited basis. We are working to have national conversations and have partnerships on these issues to find answers and replicate the positive pockets of best practices across the country.

We have our national offices near Washington, DC and were given the equity of a 400-acre farm that is helping individuals locally while helping us identify more clearly the social determinants of health for adults with autism.

We are identifying challenges and findings solutions.

No other organizations address the needs of adults with autism nationally and also has the resources of a 400-acre farm to shape information on how important the social determinants of health are and that they need to be structured in communities to help create meaningful and productive lives for autistic adults.

Each year 100,000 autisic children become adults, they need support after high school but few resources exist. We see the challenges autistic adults face but also recognize the challenges that the other members of the family face as well. It is estimated that there are over one million seniors who are still primary caregivers of adult children with autism. When parents die, the need for housing becomes critical. The foremost expert in inclusive housing is on our staff and has worked with hundreds of communities, developers, and families to address these housing needs 

Our farm also provides job readiness training, health through equine therapy, and agricultural education, and community engagement for autistic adults and many others. We create opportunities for inclusion with mixed populations on the farm hoping people will see the humanity in one another and take that knowledge into the larger community.

There is a hidden crisis in our communities. I know it, I live it and most of those currently in my world live it. Autistic adults, their talents, abilities and challenges are often unseen and numbers are growing. Nearly 2% of our population is on the spectrum. Add in two parents and two siblings, nearly 30,000,000 people live with autism and its implications, yet our nation is slow on addressing what is necessary to create better futures. Some options exist but they are few. Still people Identify autism with children and adolescents. Aging parents become 24-hour caregivers of their adult children. They give up jobs and limit friendships. Existing housing may not be  appropriate or what the individual wants. When a crisis occurs they are placed in the next available bed. If they remain with aging parents, their activities may become sedentary, confined to TV or computers, developing heart conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression and be cut off from community engagement. It is risking the health of 30,000,000 people. There are answers, but it will take thought leaders, communities and advocates to solve this pave the way for healthier people and families.