Adults living with autism have difficulty finding support services, a Pennsylvania nonprofit has a solution

• Aniya Faulcon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

 Laurie Howard

Airdate: March 2, 2023

According to the CDC, about 1 in 44 children have autism spectrum disorder. According to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Autism Services, the number of individuals diagnosed with autism disorder has increased. But at the age of 21 many adults living with the disability have difficulty receiving support services.

On The Spark Thursday we discussed a local nonprofit organization that is attempting to address that challenge with Laurie Howard, founder and director of A Place for Jacob and Michelle Miller, grandmother and caretaker of a child living with autism.

Miller said, adults living with autism face have to face challenges like lack of autism support services, lack of staff for services, lack of funding for services, long waitlists for services and difficulty getting jobs and keeping them.

“Honestly, they’ve done a decent job of putting the programs and support in place for children with autism. But not too many years from now, the behavioral health system is going to find itself overwhelmed and overrun with grown autistic adults with limited to no support, no idea of how to survive and nowhere to go for help,” Miller said.

The A Place for Jacob organization offers a group home experience, for adults living with autism, with 24-hour staff that provides them with care and takes them to participate in activities and programs.

Howard said, she hopes her work will make a positive impact on the local autism community and her adult son, Jacob, who lives with autism. She wants to ensure that Jacob and other adults living with autism have the care they need even after their caregivers are no longer around.

Laurie Howard

Laurie Howard, founder and owner of A Place of Jacob, and her son, Jacob