This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference in our community, reported by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.
Rates of diagnosis for autism spectrum disorders have risen to 1 in 36 children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Maryland the rate is 1 in 43, according to the Autism Society of Maryland.
April is Autism Acceptance Month, and WTOP is celebrating a Maryland organization helping autistic adults find success in the workplace.
Melissa Rosenberg, executive director of the Autism Society of Maryland, said that 30 years ago when parents of young children who didn’t know much about autism started the group, they spent time educating themselves and advocating for their children.
Now those children are adults who, Rosenberg said, have a lot of need as they transition into adulthood, especially when it comes to jobs and education.
“It’s really a life span of services that are needed,” she told WTOP.
The society’s Autism Hiring Program, now in its fourth year, helps adults on the spectrum find jobs working in Howard, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties, with the support of their workforce centers.
Kristen Letnick, resource coordinator for the Autism Society of Maryland, said the group works with small groups “so that the individuals can get more of that one-on-one individualized attention that a lot of people on the spectrum end up needing, especially when it comes to things like interviewing.”
Rosenberg said the program has been very successful and people are working in a variety of fields: “IT, cyber, but also hospitality and retail” and that the group acknowledges that people on the spectrum “can go to college, and go into apprenticeships, and go into the workplace.”
The Autism Society of Maryland is part of the Autism Society of America, located in Rockville. It’s a network of 70 affiliate groups around the country that connect and empower autistic people of all ages and their families, with resources so that they can “live fully.”
More information about Autism Society of Maryland events this month can be found on the group’s website.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Kristen Letnick’s name.
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