Program Description
Event Details
Presentation Summary by Jeremy K. Farrell
As an autistic individual who has been on my own personal journey to feeling empowered as an autistic person, and as a professional who has helped others on that journey I have unique insight into how autistic empowerment is cultivated. My presentation will not be a textbook on the do’s and don’ts for working with or being an autistic individual. Instead it will encourage attendees to think critically about what they are learning and how it can beneficially affect their lives and the lives of those around them.
I will discuss two effective paths to autistic empowerment which each must be addressed and understood in their own way but also compliment each other. These paths include open communication and self-advocacy. By embracing these concepts we can take meaningful strides towards creating an effective environment for fostering autistic empowerment. I will use examples from my personal and professional life to help attendees form a comprehensive understanding of the common barriers autistic individuals have with empowerment, and how to make the most of the paths to success.
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Jeremy K. Farrell is a passionate Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Advocate and a proud person on the spectrum himself. He has been working with children with developmental disabilities, specializing in autism, since the age of 15. Since graduating from Southern Connecticut State University, he has run social skills groups for teens and kids on the spectrum out of Western Connecticut Behavioral Health and worked with autism focused organizations to provide recreational resources to their clients. He also spent time working as a University Assistant for Southern Connecticut State University where he traveled the state of Connecticut as the Leader of Community Outreach and Recruitment for the Listening to Faces Speech and Language Autism research out of Yale’s Child Study Center.
While traveling the state he exhibited at events and spoke to parent groups about the research and its importance to the autistic community. He also consulted with businesses and organizations to help them understand autism and their autistic clients as part of his work as the Director of Family and Personal Growth for Planning Across the Spectrum. Recently he has worked as a Certified Job Coach for the Connecticut Autism Waiver helping autistic adults build their own businesses and advocated for the autistic community through offering webinars and presentations built on what he’s learned through his personal and professional life. He recently had the opportunity to also work as a facilitator for the Tony Richards Leadership Academy Autism focused leadership training program.