ABSTRACT
This text addresses the educational needs of adolescents and young adults with autism. The purpose of this first chapter is to provide a framework and point of reference to help readers comprehend and achieve a comfort level with information presented throughout the rest of the book. In this chapter, we discuss issues of diagnosis and identification within a framework that emphasizes supports needed to enable young people to bridge the gap between their capacities and the demands of multiple environments. The ultimate goal is to provide information useful in facilitating successful transition from school to adult life and employment. By providing a set of diagnostic and educational terminology in the first chapter, we provide a common language and clear prospective through which we can examine the state of the art in secondary school autism education, as well as present innovative programming options based on research-informed principles and practices.
