Not a week goes by before there is a new article about the increase in the rates of autism and within these reports is a debate about what it means. There are generally two camps, as I see it: those who believe better detection and a broadening of the definition of autism is at work and those who believe there are some unknown environmental factors in play. While there is a genetic component to autism, I fall into the first camp.
Until the 1990’s, when the definition of autism was broadened, only the more involved children were labeled as having autism and the rest received various other labels-PDD, PDD/NOS, MR and an alphabet soup of other labels. It was widely accepted that a label of autism also included some level of intellectual disability. Now, only 1/3 of those who are labeled as having autism also have an intellectual disability.
There are lists even being developed of famous people and much speculation of others (Steve Jobs for example) who might have Asperger’s. What concerns me and should concern you is why are we obsessed with labels? I used to have a poster on my wall that said “Label jars. Not people.” I think we should accept some natural variations of human behavior. That quirky kid from my elementary school who went to MIT would no doubt today be put somewhere on the autism spectrum and provided with social skills classes. Instead of being celebrated for who he is, he would be set apart and attempts would be made to fix him.
When we finally have societies where everyone is included and accepted for their uniqueness, I am hopeful that labels will only be on jars.
This blog was oringianly published on the blog Zeh Lezeh
Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Growth on horizon at Cardinal Cushing Centers
By Neil Simpson/Patriot Ledger
HANOVER — With a few minutes until closing, 21-year-old Erick Conroy rushes with his co-workers through the Iron Kettle Inn to clear dishes from the lunch rush. Nearby, other young workers sort donations in a thrift store and work the register at a bakery.
The little-known collection of shops off Route 53 is staffed almost entirely by students with intellectual disabilities at the Cardinal Cushing Centers and serves as a training ground for many of them to enter the adult work force. For Conroy, the experience working at the Iron Kettle led to a job busing tables at Bertucci’s in Hingham.
“I like busing, but I’m working my way up to waiting,” he said confidently as he paused during his work at the Iron Kettle.
In addition to typical classrooms and athletic facilities, the campus includes 150 units of affordable housing and a marketplace of shops open to the public, including the Bass Village Café, the Cushing Greenery nursery and the Timeless Treasurers thrift shop.
Now, after 65 years, leaders at Cardinal Cushing Centers are preparing to launch projects aimed at opening the 40-acre campus to more people outside the school. New plans call for adding 48 units of affordable housing at the center of the property and a new building that will move the school’s retail shops – including a bakery, restaurant, thrift store, gift shop and recycling center – to a more visible location on Route 53.
“The future is really about transformation from a traditional residential school for kids with disabilities into a community, a village, for people of all ages and all abilities to live, work, play and pray together,” said Jo Ann Simons, the organization’s president and CEO.
Cardinal Cushing Centers was founded in 1947 by Cardinal Richard Cushing, who saw a need for a school that would serve what he called “exceptional” children. At the time, Simons said, few children with intellectual disabilities were educated, and many were institutionalized.
Since then, state and federal laws have been rewritten to guarantee that all students with intellectual disabilities receive access to an education, and public schools have developed programs to serve many of them. As competition among special-education programs has grown, the Cushing Center has worked to carve out a niche serving those students who need the 24-hour structure of a residential program, while also providing vocational training for older students preparing to enter the adult world.
Today, the organization serves 80 residential students and 40 day students at its Hanover campus, 24 day students at St. Coletta Day School in Braintree and about 150 adults supported through various programs. Students start as young as 6 and range from those with mild learning disabilities to students considered nonverbal.
With a few minutes until closing, 21-year-old Erick Conroy rushes with his co-workers through the Iron Kettle Inn to clear dishes from the lunch rush. Nearby, other young workers sort donations in a thrift store and work the register at a bakery.
The little-known collection of shops off Route 53 is staffed almost entirely by students with intellectual disabilities at the Cardinal Cushing Centers and serves as a training ground for many of them to enter the adult work force. For Conroy, the experience working at the Iron Kettle led to a job busing tables at Bertucci’s in Hingham.
“I like busing, but I’m working my way up to waiting,” he said confidently as he paused during his work at the Iron Kettle.
In addition to typical classrooms and athletic facilities, the campus includes 150 units of affordable housing and a marketplace of shops open to the public, including the Bass Village Café, the Cushing Greenery nursery and the Timeless Treasurers thrift shop.
Now, after 65 years, leaders at Cardinal Cushing Centers are preparing to launch projects aimed at opening the 40-acre campus to more people outside the school. New plans call for adding 48 units of affordable housing at the center of the property and a new building that will move the school’s retail shops – including a bakery, restaurant, thrift store, gift shop and recycling center – to a more visible location on Route 53.
“The future is really about transformation from a traditional residential school for kids with disabilities into a community, a village, for people of all ages and all abilities to live, work, play and pray together,” said Jo Ann Simons, the organization’s president and CEO.
Cardinal Cushing Centers was founded in 1947 by Cardinal Richard Cushing, who saw a need for a school that would serve what he called “exceptional” children. At the time, Simons said, few children with intellectual disabilities were educated, and many were institutionalized.
Since then, state and federal laws have been rewritten to guarantee that all students with intellectual disabilities receive access to an education, and public schools have developed programs to serve many of them. As competition among special-education programs has grown, the Cushing Center has worked to carve out a niche serving those students who need the 24-hour structure of a residential program, while also providing vocational training for older students preparing to enter the adult world.
Today, the organization serves 80 residential students and 40 day students at its Hanover campus, 24 day students at St. Coletta Day School in Braintree and about 150 adults supported through various programs. Students start as young as 6 and range from those with mild learning disabilities to students considered nonverbal.
Simons said that having a campus where “typical” people live and interact alongside students is key to the school’s evolving mission, giving its students the experience they need to leave the often-sheltered world of special education.
“By living in this community, they’re going to be much more comfortable living among people who are not paid to be around them,” she said. “People with disabilities are constantly surrounded by people who are paid to be around them.”
Under a master plan developed over the last 18 months, the center would partner with the Planning Office of Urban Affairs to transform an outdated office and classroom building into 48 affordable-housing units. The 150-unit apartment building already on the property is for low-income seniors and was recently sold for about $8 million.
The plans also call for a multi-story building facing Route 53 with ground-floor retail space to house many of the center’s current vocational programs and some new ones. Simons said the school’s leaders hope to break ground on both projects within the next three years.
The initiatives come after several years in which the school struggled with falling enrollment, growing debt, and layoffs and pay freezes that Simons described as “very painful.” But Simons said the school has recently increased enrollment, reduced its deficit and put its finances “on a better course.”
“These difficult times give us an opportunity to be very clear, and direct and thorough about where we’re going, and to make sure, not only that we’re relevant today, but that we are building something that will stand the test of time,” she said.
Neal Simpson may be reached at nesimpson@ledger.com.
HANOVER — With a few minutes until closing, 21-year-old Erick Conroy rushes with his co-workers through the Iron Kettle Inn to clear dishes from the lunch rush. Nearby, other young workers sort donations in a thrift store and work the register at a bakery.
The little-known collection of shops off Route 53 is staffed almost entirely by students with intellectual disabilities at the Cardinal Cushing Centers and serves as a training ground for many of them to enter the adult work force. For Conroy, the experience working at the Iron Kettle led to a job busing tables at Bertucci’s in Hingham.
“I like busing, but I’m working my way up to waiting,” he said confidently as he paused during his work at the Iron Kettle.
In addition to typical classrooms and athletic facilities, the campus includes 150 units of affordable housing and a marketplace of shops open to the public, including the Bass Village Café, the Cushing Greenery nursery and the Timeless Treasurers thrift shop.
Now, after 65 years, leaders at Cardinal Cushing Centers are preparing to launch projects aimed at opening the 40-acre campus to more people outside the school. New plans call for adding 48 units of affordable housing at the center of the property and a new building that will move the school’s retail shops – including a bakery, restaurant, thrift store, gift shop and recycling center – to a more visible location on Route 53.
“The future is really about transformation from a traditional residential school for kids with disabilities into a community, a village, for people of all ages and all abilities to live, work, play and pray together,” said Jo Ann Simons, the organization’s president and CEO.
Cardinal Cushing Centers was founded in 1947 by Cardinal Richard Cushing, who saw a need for a school that would serve what he called “exceptional” children. At the time, Simons said, few children with intellectual disabilities were educated, and many were institutionalized.
Since then, state and federal laws have been rewritten to guarantee that all students with intellectual disabilities receive access to an education, and public schools have developed programs to serve many of them. As competition among special-education programs has grown, the Cushing Center has worked to carve out a niche serving those students who need the 24-hour structure of a residential program, while also providing vocational training for older students preparing to enter the adult world.
Today, the organization serves 80 residential students and 40 day students at its Hanover campus, 24 day students at St. Coletta Day School in Braintree and about 150 adults supported through various programs. Students start as young as 6 and range from those with mild learning disabilities to students considered nonverbal.
With a few minutes until closing, 21-year-old Erick Conroy rushes with his co-workers through the Iron Kettle Inn to clear dishes from the lunch rush. Nearby, other young workers sort donations in a thrift store and work the register at a bakery.
The little-known collection of shops off Route 53 is staffed almost entirely by students with intellectual disabilities at the Cardinal Cushing Centers and serves as a training ground for many of them to enter the adult work force. For Conroy, the experience working at the Iron Kettle led to a job busing tables at Bertucci’s in Hingham.
“I like busing, but I’m working my way up to waiting,” he said confidently as he paused during his work at the Iron Kettle.
In addition to typical classrooms and athletic facilities, the campus includes 150 units of affordable housing and a marketplace of shops open to the public, including the Bass Village Café, the Cushing Greenery nursery and the Timeless Treasurers thrift shop.
Now, after 65 years, leaders at Cardinal Cushing Centers are preparing to launch projects aimed at opening the 40-acre campus to more people outside the school. New plans call for adding 48 units of affordable housing at the center of the property and a new building that will move the school’s retail shops – including a bakery, restaurant, thrift store, gift shop and recycling center – to a more visible location on Route 53.
“The future is really about transformation from a traditional residential school for kids with disabilities into a community, a village, for people of all ages and all abilities to live, work, play and pray together,” said Jo Ann Simons, the organization’s president and CEO.
Cardinal Cushing Centers was founded in 1947 by Cardinal Richard Cushing, who saw a need for a school that would serve what he called “exceptional” children. At the time, Simons said, few children with intellectual disabilities were educated, and many were institutionalized.
Since then, state and federal laws have been rewritten to guarantee that all students with intellectual disabilities receive access to an education, and public schools have developed programs to serve many of them. As competition among special-education programs has grown, the Cushing Center has worked to carve out a niche serving those students who need the 24-hour structure of a residential program, while also providing vocational training for older students preparing to enter the adult world.
Today, the organization serves 80 residential students and 40 day students at its Hanover campus, 24 day students at St. Coletta Day School in Braintree and about 150 adults supported through various programs. Students start as young as 6 and range from those with mild learning disabilities to students considered nonverbal.
Simons said that having a campus where “typical” people live and interact alongside students is key to the school’s evolving mission, giving its students the experience they need to leave the often-sheltered world of special education.
“By living in this community, they’re going to be much more comfortable living among people who are not paid to be around them,” she said. “People with disabilities are constantly surrounded by people who are paid to be around them.”
Under a master plan developed over the last 18 months, the center would partner with the Planning Office of Urban Affairs to transform an outdated office and classroom building into 48 affordable-housing units. The 150-unit apartment building already on the property is for low-income seniors and was recently sold for about $8 million.
The plans also call for a multi-story building facing Route 53 with ground-floor retail space to house many of the center’s current vocational programs and some new ones. Simons said the school’s leaders hope to break ground on both projects within the next three years.
The initiatives come after several years in which the school struggled with falling enrollment, growing debt, and layoffs and pay freezes that Simons described as “very painful.” But Simons said the school has recently increased enrollment, reduced its deficit and put its finances “on a better course.”
“These difficult times give us an opportunity to be very clear, and direct and thorough about where we’re going, and to make sure, not only that we’re relevant today, but that we are building something that will stand the test of time,” she said.
Neal Simpson may be reached at nesimpson@ledger.com.
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