A report highlights gaps in services for adults with autism in Utah. SALT LAKE CITY - Public schools provide a variety of necessary services to children and teens with autism, but there is a lack of adequate support for adults who have aged out of the system, according to a new report. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Utah Parent Center and the Utah State University Institute for Disability, Research, Policy and Practice recently partnered with the Madison House Autism Foundation and the Columbus Community Center on a pilot program to highlight the gaps in services for autistic adults and promote solutions. Sumiko Martinez, director of the Autism After 21 Utah Project through the Madison House Autism Foundation, said the report focuses on the everyday obstacles adults with autism can face in the state. Martinez said there are services for adults with autism in Utah, but most are clustered along the Wasatch Front, putting them out of reach for many people who live in the rural parts of the state. “There aren’t as many services as there need to be, so this crisis is really something that is building and building, but it’s happening outside of the public view for the most part. It’s really an invisible crisis in a lot of ways,” she said. Martinez is the director of the Autism After 21 Utah Project through the Madison House Autism Foundation.

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