Responding to Autism Center adds new programs for adolescent, adults

Organizations like the local Responding to Autism Center serve kids on the autism spectrum.

But what happens when those kids get older? What services are available to help adults thrive, to live as independently as possible?

The Kennewick center has a couple of new options. It recently unveiled programs aimed at helping adolescents and adults on the spectrum.

“We think it’s necessary to be able to give these adults those skills so they are able to live on their own or be more independent,” said Olie Kolzig, a Tri-City hockey legend and co-founder of the Carson Kolzig Foundation.

The foundation supports the center, and Kolzig paid a visit Thursday to announce the new programs.

They’re called Next Steps and Navigating Autism in Adulthood, and they help clients with everything from goal setting and college planning to mastering day-to-day tasks such as riding the bus and buying groceries. Columbia Industries, the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Goodwill Industries of the Columbia and local school districts are partners in the programs.

The Responding to Autism Center piloted them last year.

Director Christine Lindgren said, “the adults we work with are most amazing people who have a lot to offer in the community.” The programs help clients become more integrated in the community and also help the community better understand autism, she said.

Samantha Burns, 21, of Kennewick, is a Responding to Autism Center client. She has Asperger’s syndrome and said the center is “a really good answer for the diagnosis.”

“I find that it helps the clients, including myself, get a little more comfortable with interactions,” she said, adding that it helps build social and workforce skills.

She talked about the fun she had at a recent movie night and a Halloween party through the center.

Sariah Harris, an employment consultant with Goodwill, also dropped by the center Thursday to talk about the new programs.

She’s a parent of a child on the spectrum and works with many adults on the spectrum through her job.

Helping in that transition time to adulthood is vital, she said.

“This is a desperately needed resource,” Harris said. “I can’t wait to see how it grows.”

To learn more about the new programs, go to www.respondingtoautism.net or call 509-396-9230.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Responding to Autism Center adds new programs for adolescent, adults."