Why Job Training Matters for Students With Autism When my
severely autistic son was high school age, the local public
school system offered him a placement at the high school. I
remember feeling the swell of hope in my throat as I met with
the administrators. Nat ... at the high school, one of the best
in the country! Up until then, Nat had attended private autism
programs most of his school career because there were no
district-based programs for him. Born in 1989, Nat was at the
beginning of the huge autism wave that was to come. His
childhood had been very lonely, with few options. I had been
swallowing down dreams of inclusion for my firstborn for so many
years. I went to that team meeting expecting it to be pro forma:
Of course I wanted this for Nat. But as the meeting progressed,
my heart sank. This was not a placement I could accept for my
son, who was enrolled in a year-round program at his private
school and was just beginning vocational training—training that
was hands-on, in the community, real-lif