ABSTRACT
The school began with nine children and one house and expanded to four houses and forty children including day and boarding pupils. In the early 1970s it was quite apparent that there were going to be a number of autistic children becoming adolescent and adult without any kind of further provision. Since 1974, the National Autism Society and other affiliated bodies have set up sixteen specialized residential centers in the United Kingdom. Autistic adults need structure with a high staff ratio who understand the handicap and who are able to develop programs to minimize disabilities, maximize skills and social ability and modify behavior problems. They need a program of domesticity together with the stimulus of a task-oriented program, but there is a shortage of day facilities to help this sizeable and difficult group of the autistic population. Residents were taught hygiene and self-care and encouraged to have their own belongings in their rooms such as radios, hi-fi equipment, or games.
