Public Meeting Notice  Subcommittee: 14-22+Years of Age

Facilitated by Commissioner Wolf

1. Follow Up Steps from Recommendations- How and When and Who

(New Recommendation) DESE will continue to assist the 14-22/Employment Subcommittee in determining the numbers of ASD students with IEPs calling for an extended school day.  The 14-22/Employment Subcommittee will review any available data on extended school day services for individuals with ASD, access to after-school programs by individuals with ASD, and the number of school aged individuals with ASD accessing other out of school time services (DDS/DESE program).  

Meeting Outcome; How, When and Who will review data on extended school day services
 

2. Recommendation on Data Requirements from MRC.

 In FY19 MRC referred 994 consumers with ASD to its Pre-ETS vendors.  In terms of race and ethnicity these 994 are broken down as 842 white, 92 African-American, 9 Native American, 37 ta questions

Meeting Outcome:  Are there additional data points for MRC to collect in addition to retention for the New Year. 

3. Employment Funding Opportunities at MRC- Next 18 months

Meeting Outcome:  List of recommendations to engage stakeholders and providers in identify new and existing employment practices for population. 

4. Structure of Sub-Committee Meetings for New Year

Meeting Outcome:  Direction and number of meetings per year

5. Leadership

Meeting Outcome:   Identification of Co –Chairs

6.  WorkAbility Legislative Committee

Meeting Outcome: Update Information

Reminder:  Training hosted by the Federation for Children with Special Needs on November 14^th at 11:00. They are working with Boston Medical Center to facilitate an informative webinar training.

Training Description:  Individuals with autism are chronically unemployed and under-employed in today’s workforce. Employees with autism can experience unique challenges with aspects of the workplace, such as developing social awareness and understanding typical social behavior, processing and communicating information, flexibility and adapting to routine changes, and learning the “hidden curriculum” of a job setting. However, once employed, many individuals have great capacity to be successful with the right supports and accommodations in place.  This training will review some common challenges of people with autism entering the workforce as well as support strategies at all stages, including job searching, interviewing, and working on the job.