Autism often referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder is a condition that affects one's social interaction, their behavior, communication as well as interests. The disorder has no medical cure; however, there are interventions around speech, language and as well as occupational therapy that can be carried out to help alleviate the conditions of autistic. Also, various other interventions exist that can be used to help victims of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Advocacy on the other is a process that involves providing support and capacity for individuals to freely express their views, make use of information and services, engage various options, and make decisions to ensure that their rights are respected. Advocacy is taking action. It is helping people secure their rights, represent their personal interest as well as obtain the services they desire.
The Rationale for the Campaign
Autism has various associated challenges on the victims. They may include intellectual disability, hampered motor coordination, poor physical health which may involve difficulty in sleep or other gastrointestinal problems. Blumberg, Bramlett, Kogan, Schieve, Jones and Lu, (2013) notes that the disorder appears to have roots in early child brain developments and most of the signs emerge in children between age 3 and 5. According to Blumberg, et al., (2013), in America, approximately 1 in every 68 children have autism. They estimate to have a ten-fold increase in prevalence over the next 40 years. Further, Blumberg, et al., (2013), suggest that autism affects more males than females with a ratio of 1: 5 or 1:5 for boys to girls. Consequently, it is estimated that 1 in every 42 boys suffer Autism Spectrum Disorder while for girls, it is 1 in 189. In the US alone, Autism Spectrum Disorder affects over 3 million individuals. Globally, the disorder affects over tens of millions of people. Moreover, the government autism statistics in the US reveal that autism cases increase by 10 to 17 percent every year.
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Owing to the enormous number of people living with Autism in particularly among the young adults and some of the unique challenges they go through, it is imperative to engage in the advocacy. For instance, only about 40% of autistic persons have an average or above average intellectual ability Blumberg, et al. (2013). This implies that approximately 60% of this population have a below average intellectual capacity. Also, others have a significant disability making them unable to survive on their own. Consequently, they need people around them to help them about most things. Moreover, about a third of the autistic population are also nonverbal further making the situation of this group of the population dire. There is great need to develop the living standards of those on the autism spectrum. When autism patients approach adulthood, they often are confronted with significant challenges as they cannot communicate, perform things they deem private by themselves or become independent as ordinary people. It is for this purpose that there is need for more acceptance, respect and unwavering support to help the autistic young adults.
The Goals and Objectives of the Campaign
The Goal of this Autism Advocacy campaign is to provide information and analysis of young adult autism issues in order to help the young adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder to have their issues understood.
The objectives of the campaign include the following:
To enhance employment prospects for the young adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Provide opportunities for young adults with autism spectrum disorder to be seen and heard.
To empower the young autism spectrum disorder adults with livelihood skills key for independence.
To promote studies on young adults with autism spectrum disorder.
To improve both communication and social behaviors of young grownups with autism spectrum disorder.
The Multiple Strategies and Approaches to Be Used
When individuals with autism spectrum disorder transition into adulthood, they experience a lot of challenges. They include livelihood skills, college experience, deciding when to disclose their disorders, and finding their career paths. Other problems include becoming independent, health care challenges, family and personal relationships among other issues like prejudice and contemptuous treatment that may be directed to them due to their condition (Gantman, Kapp, Orenski, & Laugeson, 2012). For this purpose, the advocacy adopts multiple strategy approaches that include the following:
Regarding Transition As Young Adults
The advocacy intends to highlight the livelihood skills issues that face young adults with autism spectrum disorder to encourage the teaching of such skills as they are key to independence. Secondly, the advocacy seeks to highlight the struggle and difficulties facing young adults with autism spectrum disorder when they join the college as freshmen so that the institutions can provide for an environment that responds to their needs (Adreon, & Durocher, 2007). Thirdly, the advocacy seeks to bring together education practitioners to find appropriate programs for young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder when they transition into college. The fourth is to provide psychosocial support to the young adults who may not show visible signs of autism in making decisions as to when to disclose their conditions either at school or workplace (Bishop-Fitzpatrick, Minshew, & Eack, 2014).
Employment Challenges
Regarding employment challenges faced by young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the advocacy seeks to bring to the fore some of the best practices that parents can use to respond to their children’s career challenges. Additionally, the advocacy shall create awareness for the need to treat people with Autism Spectrum Disorder equally in employment opportunities. Secondly, the advocacy seeks to urge individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder to prepare for their careers as early as high school so that the can effectively mitigate some of the career challenges facing them.
Health Care Challenges
Regarding the health care challenges facing the young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the advocacy seeks to lobby for equal access to health care for young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Secondly, the advocacy will seek to bring together actors in the health care sectors like psychiatrists, and other providers who deal in Autism Spectrum Disorder to bridge the gap of health care towards young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Additionally, the advocacy will seek to provide a smooth transition from pediatric supporters to health care providers who treat the disorder.
Family and Personal Relationships
The advocacy will address the relationship and family problems facing young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder through building the capacity of the adults to develop both intimate and personal relationships. Secondly, the advocacy will lobby for more resource allocation towards a study about young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Advocacy Audience and Targets
The advocacy will target the following groups: Firstly, the federal and state and local government to ensure they allocate more resources towards research on young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The second is the health care providers to provide interventions to the health challenges facing young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The third is the education institutions to address the challenges facing on young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The fourth will be the research institutions or organization like the CDC, to provide technical support and further research on young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Finally, the advocacy will target young adults to empower them so that they can act for themselves.
The Potential Partners in the Campaign
The potential partners in the campaign include the following: the local governments, the local health care providers, the education institutions, the civil society groups, and research organizations.
The Tasks to Be Done and Who Will Complete Them
| Tasks | Persons responsible | Tools | Time |
| Conduct a study about young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Research institutions | Research | 4 months |
| Resource allocation | Government | Legislation | 2 months |
| interventions on health care challenges facing young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder | health care providers |
Psychosocial-support Counselling treatment |
3months |
| address the education challenges facing young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Education Institutions |
Curriculum |
6 months |
| Career Counselling | Education Institutions | curriculum | 6 months |
| Livelihood skills | Education institutions | Curriculum | 6 months |
| Support and encouragement of young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Parents | Counselling | Continuous |
Activating and Mobilizing Constituents
The constituents will be activated and mobilized as follows: the various constituents will be brought together through stakeholder forms to deliberate on the issues pertinent to the young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Following the stakeholder forum, representatives of various groups will be drawn to form a committee that will steer the program forwards as stipulated in the tasks to be done and who will complete them in an area of this report. As for the people with autism, awareness creation through communication channels like posters, radio adverts and use of social media will play an important role in their mobilization. Parents with children suffering from autism spectrum disorder transitioning to adulthood will be encouraged to be a part of the program.
Conclusion
Autism spectrum disorder is widely becoming a social problem in the society today. The rate at which the cases of autism spectrum disorder are on the rise demands interventions that alleviate the challenges faced by the young adult victims. As such, there is need for a concerted effort that brings together all the stakeholders to not only develop but also effectively implement the interventions towards improving the lives of young adults with autism spectrum disorder.
References
Adreon, D., & Durocher, J. S. (2007). Evaluating the college transition needs of individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. Intervention in School and Clinic , 42 (5), 271-279.
Bishop-Fitzpatrick, L., Minshew, N. J., & Eack, S. M. (2014). A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for adults with autism spectrum disorders. In Adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (pp. 315-327). New York: Springer New York.
Blumberg, S. J., Bramlett, M. D., Kogan, M. D., Schieve, L. A., Jones, J. R., & Lu, M. C. (2013). Changes in prevalence of parent-reported autism spectrum disorder in school-aged US children: 2007 to 2011–2012. National health statistics reports , 65 (20), 1-7.
Gantman, A., Kapp, S. K., Orenski, K., & Laugeson, E. A. (2012). Social skills training for young adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: A randomized controlled pilot study. Journal of autism and developmental disorders , 42 (6), 1094-1103.
