Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) grow up to be adults with ASDs. Many, if not most, will have the same urges, impulses, and desires as the rest of the adult population. Autistic adults want to work. They want to pursue college degrees. And, though their parents and caregivers might not want to ponder this, the teen or adult with an ASD will experiment and eventually engage in romantic physical contact with another person. Some will get married as adults and have children of their own.
Autistic students and adults often feel invisible at school, work, or among their peers. These autistic individuals are intelligent and have often taught themselves enough social skills to succeed academically. Unfortunately, few have mastered the social skills that become essential to personal and professional success in adulthood. A Spectrum of Relationships offers some ideas and encouragement to those, like myself, discovering the essential nature of social connections to personal fulfillment.
The underlying assumption of this book is that social connections are essential to personal and professional development. Success in its various forms requires a solid, supportive network of social connections. A Spectrum of Relationships represents my belief that any success I have in life would not be possible without my family, friends, and several great mentors. No one succeeds alone. We build on the knowledge of the past, skills and information learned from those in our social circles and from the resources to which we are guided.
- from C. S. Wyatt
