This is one in a mini-series of posts exploring the state of mental health care in America, and how to fix it.
You may not know it, but there’s a huge fight going on that affects the future of everyone with autism and/or intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD).
Right now, adults with these diagnoses, their families, providers, advocates and government officials are clashing over pending state regulations that threaten to severely restrict the residential and vocational settings available to this population. The de-institutionalization pendulum, as it’s often called, has swung so far that many states have begun pushing full community inclusion even on those who don’t want it (because of sensory sensitivities, a desire to live with peers in a disability-specific community, or any number of reasons) or who suffer from challenging medical and behavioral needs that can’t safely and adequately be met in small, integrated settings.
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