The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

A team effort to understand autism

June 22, 2018 at 8:06 a.m. EDT
Stacey Travers started a support group for family members of people with autism. (Ben Sledge/ASHA)

As her two daughters with autism were growing up, Stacey Travers didn’t always have the resources she needed.

The elder daughter, 27, is considered high-functioning. But the 22-year-old is nonverbal and spent most of her education in a specialized program for autistic children. “I had to figure it all out on my own,” Travers says. “It wasn’t until my children were in their early teens that I started branching out.”

So, in 2015, Travers, an assistant at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), based in Rockville, Md., started a support group for family members of people with autism.

She considers it a safe haven, where parents can come together to swap stories and talk about triumphs and challenges.

She invited a Montgomery County police officer to discuss safety issues. She has brought in thought leaders — including John Elder Robison, who wrote a book, “Look Me in the Eye,” about his life with autism — to help educate staff members.The group even organized staff trips to two local businesses committed to hiring and training autistic people — Gaithersburg-based Sunflower Bakery and North Potomac-based That’s a Wrap deli. The outings helped staff members advise parents on how to prepare autistic children for the working world.

Today the group counts six regular members — “small but united,” Travers says. They’re from all over the region, which helps them compare the resources offered by various school systems.

“What I tell other families is you cannot just rely on your school system,” Travers says. “You have to go out and seek those resources for yourself.”

Ask Amy: Sibling wonders whether brother has autism

Members say the group has become an invaluable resource. “I had no idea there were so many resources out in the community before I joined this group,” says Bridget Murray Law, who is managing editor of ASHA’s magazine.