First Person: Working With Autism

This morning on KUT, we reported on the challenges people with autism face when trying to find gainful employment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports increases in the prevalence of autism. Meanwhile, the state legislature slashed spending that would help people afflicted by the disorder.

One of the people we talked to was Daniel Shackelford. He has Asperger’s Syndrome but was able find gainful employment at Seton Medical Center through a privately run program called Project SEARCH. You can hear more from Shackelford in the video above, shot and edited by Jeff Heimsath for KUT News.

Our reporting happened to coincide with the release of an annual report by the Texas Council on Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, an organization created by the state in 1987 to advise state agencies.

The report found, not surprisingly, that $15 billion in state cuts had a negative effect on services that could help people with autism become independent, tax paying workers.