Full Life Academy Launching a rewarding life for young adults on the autism spectrum BY CAROLYN SPERRY
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hen young adults with autism exit the public school system, often at age twenty-one, they encounter what is sometimes called “the cliff” or “when the bus stops coming.” Without the structure of school, individuals and their parents sometimes struggle to find options that help facilitate continued growth. The leaders at AutismUp realized that there were “gaps in the community,” says marketing and development director Lisa Ponticello. Parents and individuals had to face “that question of what’s next,” she says. “I think we’d just been living in fear of the day the bus stops coming.” The programs that already existed for young adults worked great for some individuals but not all. Many programs focus on gainful employment—a great goal, but “clearly not practical for some of our kids,” says Ponticello. Some individuals might, for example, get more out of a classroom setting, an internship, or a volunteer experience.
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Summer 2022 | 585kids.com
Given that there were “thousands” of individuals that did not fit well into the available offerings, Ponticello says, AutismUp realized that they needed to create a modern, innovative, and customized program that could fit anyone’s needs. Thus, the Full Life Academy (FLA) program was born. This new program was piloted in the summer of 2021 and fully launched in the fall of 2021 thanks to a grant from the Golisano Foundation. According to AutismUp executive director Sarah Milko, “individualization and innovation” are what sets this program apart. FLA uses an online platform that helps students create and set goals. The student is then advised, based on these goals, about what classes to take in order to achieve them. “Each individual is engaged in mapping out their own future,” said Milko. The “Foundations” classes offered at FLA are individual classes that help each participant work on personal goals. Navigators consider individuals’ skill levels, desires, and ambitions when
