AUTISM ADVOCACY
With AbleTalks, my focus is to work with the issues of young
adults who are over the age of 21 to address their needs. At age
21, you lose all of the publically funded programs, so I started
a program that is tuition-free because even if you have money,
there are not a lot of choices, but if you don’t have resources,
it is a wasteland.
licensed mental health therapist working with kids
and families in very remote areas.
With AbleTalks, my focus is to work with the issues of
young adults who are over the age of 21 to address
their needs. At age 21, you lose all of the publically
funded programs, so I started a program that is tui-
tion-free because even if you have money, there are
not a lot of choices, but if you don’t have resources,
it is a wasteland.
Able Talks is unique because of its focus on the popu-
lation of 21 and up, which has not received the lion’s
share of attention. AbleTalks is a new tool in the tool-
box, and what we are doing is not being done any-
where else. This was originally supposed to be a fun
summer project, but I saw how fast my students were
learning and expanding and decided that we just had
to offer it to more people other than our small circle.
I is for Inspire - As a parent, when you look
at your child or children, what inspires you?
I don’t know if I am answering this right, but this is
where I am now— I’m inspired to change the whole
planet. I’m going to be here for my child I hope forty
more years, but in that time it is going to take every
day to prepare her to live a life of independence, to
find what her life will be, and to let her have what she
chooses in her path. But also I want to change lives
everywhere else, so that her efforts will be met with
other efforts. I want to make our planet safe and un-
derstanding and aware, and I spend every minute of
every day doing that.
S i s for Support - Are there things you strug-
gle with or have struggled with, and what
types of support do you still need?
I’m widowed, and many parents of children with
autism are single. That’s not easy. And then we deal
54 | Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 68
with what they call the “drop off point” when school
is out and therapies are no longer covered by Medic-
aid or private insurance. Autism is isolating, and the
older you get the fewer opportunities you have. So
the support I need is for more programs to meet the
needs of adults with autism. As AbleTalks has grown,
we’ve seen families whose children have college
degrees but are still unemployed and very isolated.
So we’re working with a broad spectrum of young
adults who all face similar challenges that we are try-
ing to address.
M is for Manage - What keys to success can
you leave with parents so that they can bet-
ter manage their day to day efforts?
If we’re talking younger, we just tried to get through
the day. We would set goals to get them into kin-
dergarten and then into third grade. Today we are
talking about estate planning, location, socialization,
continuing education, and what we do when we die.
To manage it is really hard for me, but we have to en-
courage parents to think about what’s next. I speak
to parents about what’s next because it is coming.
Derrick Hayes is an author, motivational speaker,
and paraprofessional with students with autism in
the Muscogee County School District in Columbus,
Georgia. For contact or booking information visit
www.derrickhayes.com , email info@derrickhayes.
com, or call (706) 615-1662.