At Princeton Child Development Institute, preparation for adulthood begins long before a student's twenty-first birthday. It actually begins when children first enter the program, learn to use activity schedules, learn to follow instructions, and learn to value money. Students prepare for the transition to adulthood when they acquire self-care skills, social interaction skills, and when they learn to use contextual and functional language.
One of the primary goals of the ALSP is to identify jobs and teach adults to complete job responsibilities at criterion. Approximately 75% of individuals who receive services from the ALSP are employed in community settings as hotel housekeepers, laundry workers, data-entry clerks, and mailroom assistants. Many of the current employers are actively seeking other employees from the Adult Life-Skills Program.
If people have not yet acquired the prerequisite skills for community job placement, the ALSP contracts with businesses to provide meaningful work and to help adults acquire skills that will make them more employable.
Adults with autism require more than job training--they need life-skills training. For example, they learn to manage their own money. For some, this means learning to make a purchase. Others receive instruction in balancing a checkbook, paying bills, or using an automatic teller machine. For adults who commute, instruction in the use of public transportation is critical. For others, learning to cross the street, enter work through the correct door, and wait for a ride home are topics of instruction.
To learn more about PCDI or make a donation to the program please visit www.pcdi.org
This video was made in 2005 and Narrated by the world renowned scientist Dr. Patricia Krantz.
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