MAXIMIZING QUALITY OF LIFE
Residential programs for adults with autism should prioritize all major quality of life concerns and utilize professionally-developed curricula to maximize individuals’ skills.
Ask how the program:
LEVELS OF SUPERVISION:
| Teaches safety skills | Engages health and medical care | Keeps track of residents’ diagnoses, allergies, and diets | Maintains a detailed schedule of residents’ medical, dental, and therapy appointments and ensures that residents attend those appointments | Provides appropriate supervision | Develops emergency and crisis plans | Offers socialization opportunities | Supports emotional and behavioral development through constructive dialogue between residents and staff | Helps with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), including food and meal-related skills, toileting and hygiene, housecleaning, dressing, and finances | Creates opportunities for preferred recreational activities | Coordinates with employment, day programming, and/or transportation
When you consider whether a residential
program will maintain appropriate levels of supervision for your child, you shouldn’t limit your child’s options by thinking in terms of “staff ratios.” Think instead of “levels of supervision.” When parents ask about staff ratios, they often do so in an attempt to maximize the support for their child and make sure that there is a staff member who is always at the ready to help them. For example, some families may ask for a 1:1 staff ratio, or ask that an individual direct support professional be “assigned” to their child. Counterintuitively, that might result in less supervision. What happens when that specific staff member needs to use the restroom? Instead, focus on the level of supervision : how close should any given staff member be to your loved one and over what time frames? What level of supervision do they need to stay safe?
Some examples of levels of supervision are:
| 2-hour periodic checks | 5-minute periodic checks | Line-of-sight during all waking hours | Arm’s length at all times
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