Richard Edley, The Need for Reality-Based Programs for Adults with Severe Autism and I/DD

Richard Edley, PhD is President/CEO of Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association (RCPA) of Pennsylvania, and a nationally recognized leader pushing for care options for adults with autism and I/DD. He is also the father of an adult son with profound autism. In this episode he and Jill discuss:
— The scope of the I/DD system in PA and the lengthy waitlists
— The pressure of increasing autism cases
— Program closures and selectivity against those with acute needs; the erosion of services for high needs
— The workforce (DSP) crisis
— Pennsylvania's restrictive interpretation of the HCBS Settings Rule
— Advocates' mania for closure without offering realistic solutions
— Arbitrary rules that create barriers to functional services
— The difference between ideology and reality about I/DD the need to base systems on facts and data, not "theology"
— The problematic use of the "Supports Intensity Scale" - which is barely relevant to autism
— Worries about how "Selective Contracting" will reduce choice
— How to think about fixing our broken system- a system that seems "designed to collapse"
Link:
RCPA: https://www.paproviders.org

The Autism Confidential podcast is sponsored by the National Council on Severe Autism, NCSAutism.org

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