Autism Society Director Tells Rotarians About Work to Serve Local Families

Melissa Rosenberg, executive director of the Autism Society of Maryland since 2016, told Columbia-Patuxent Rotarians recently how the nonprofit leads efforts to promote inclusion, independence and opportunity for autistic individuals

Melissa said autism is a complex lifelong developmental condition. Typically, symptoms appear during childhood, although a lot of people aren't diagnosed until adulthood. It can impact a person’s social skills, communication relationships and self regulation.

The last CDC numbers say one in 31 children in our country has an autism diagnosis. In Maryland the figure is one in 38. About 12% of our students in special education have an autism diagnosis. There are 3.5 million individuals with autism in the US and 78 million worldwide.

“The one thing I like to share with people, because you hear so much about autism and you see things on TV, is that no two people with autism are alike,” Melissa said. “Everybody is very different and walks this journey very differently. Early diagnosis does help somebody get the kind of support they need to expand their options and their ability to live fully.”

The Autism Society here has grown to adding staff in Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties in addition to taking calls from all over the state, even from out of state and sometimes other countries. “Last year we served 15,000 individuals who benefited from our free services and initiatives,” Melissa added. “We think of autism as being with children. But we have senior citizens. We have an adult social group. We have some folks who are over 60. The youngest we usually see is about 18 months.”

Melissa detailed a number of the society’s programs and community initiatives including: the autism hiring program helping autistic job seekers find employment and supporting businesses in hiring neurodiverse employees; communication boards in schools and libraries for non-speaking autistic children to play and express feelings/emotions; vaccine education sharing the news that vaccines do not cause autism despite a negative “study” that did a great disservice to the community and has been disproven multiple times; and a safety page emphasizing the risk of children with autism wandering (elopement) and drowning.

Melissa thanked the Rotary club for a grant supporting water safety. “Thanks to you, we’ll be offering some swim scholarships,” she said. ‘It’s really important that our kids get in the water, that they learn safety skills, learn to wait and ask for permission before they go in the water, and that they have some basic survival skills like can they float? Do they know how to get out, even if they're fully clothed? Do they know how to get out of the pool, to swim to the side?”

The grim facts are that children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown than their typical peers. Drowning is the highest percentage cause of death in children with autism under the age of 14.

Lastly, Melissa described Patuxent Commons, a new development that is a model for affordable housing. It includes 76 units, 25% being set aside for individuals with disabilities, with the balance for seniors, individuals and families. Opening is slated for October of this year. Patuxent Commons is based on the concept of neighbor helping neighbor.

“We’ll begin to address some of the need for affordable housing in the disability community. We know it'll only scratch the surface,” Melissa explained. “Our idea is that people will take this concept, which is the first of its kind in Maryland, and replicate it. That's happening. An agency in Baltimore County is looking for land right now, has hired our developer, and will be building asimilar project. We’re so happy about that because that's what we wanted.”

Columbia-Patuxent Rotary is the largest and most active of the seven Rotary clubs in Howard County. It meets Friday mornings at 7:30 at Jam Eateries.