Episode 6: Cammie McGovern, Author of Hard Landings: Looking Into the Future for a Child with Autism

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Spotify here

Novelist and parent of an autistic child Cammie McGovern spent a year traveling around the country, visiting day and residential programs for autistic adults. She discusses what she found with Amy Lutz.
Highlights:
• Cammie was inspired to look into the range of adult services as her own autistic son Ethan, now 25, was aging out of his educational entitlement.
• Although sheltered workshops have been targeted for closure at the state and federal level, many 14(c) programs provide meaningful work and peer interaction for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Intentional communities are not permitted in many states, because they are considered too institutional by Disability Rights advocates. Cammie discusses why, after all her site visits, this is what she envisions for Ethan’s future.
• What is “community”? For neurodiversity advocates, community is a geographic location that is primarily populated by nondisabled people, but for parents community is about relationships.

Links:

Her book: Hard Landings: Looking Into the Future for a Child with Autism https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mcgovern+hard+landings&crid=340BOUJD5TA68&sprefix=mcgovern+hard+landings%2Caps%2C105&ref=nb_sb_noss_2.