Have you ever found yourself feeling awkward or struggling to connect with someone in a social situation?
For our young adults at UAS, this is a reality they often face every day. They long for connection and meaningful relationships, but the challenge to navigate social environments can feel overwhelming and insurmountable.
Yet together with our partners, UAS has established essential social programs that accommodate the interpersonal communication challenges these young adults live with. By providing safe, inclusive spaces to interact, we help foster the social understanding and emotional growth they need to build stronger connections and more enriched lives.
Following are two exciting new milestones we reached this past February in our social programming.
Record attendance for monthly meetups
Over the past 10 years, young adults with autism have been gathering almost every month at Pompei for food, games and social interaction. In February, we outgrew our usual space with a record attendance of 51, pushing us into a larger room to better accommodate our growth.
Our meet-ups have been instrumental in providing the space these individuals need to build social connection. Tania has been a regular attendee ever since she discovered the event after an online search for autism programs over two years ago. How have these meet-ups made a difference in her life? “I’m able to find new friends. I’m able to learn how to be social.”
young adult advisory council hosts its first social event
Our first event of its kind – Game Day – was a huge success with 24 attendees. It was buzzing with energy and participants were looking forward to the next one.
Game Day was spearheaded by our Young Adult Advisory Council who are actively engaged in creating more social events for young adults with autism. Hosting it at our West Side Transition Academy location provided plenty of space to move around freely and interact with others – eating snacks, playing games and getting to know each other.
And new friendships were formed. As a first-time attendee of a UAS event, Sofie was happy she pushed past her hesitation to come since new people and new places make her feel uneasy. But over a game of Sorry, she quickly connected with Aliyah, an Advisory Council member, who put her at ease and became a new friend. “I was very nervous but I was very happy I came.”
Become a partner of UAS and help support vital programs like these - giving young adults with autism and related challenges the safe space they need to grow and thrive.
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