Shouldn't we be linking early childhood objectives with long term quality of life and employment!?

I truly believe that our targets for early intervention, early childhood special education, and school age education for children with autism are all wrong.

Today, I am creating a rating scale for some of my wonderful adult clients, for what it takes to be an excellent employee. We all know this stuff....ambitious, hard working, humble, a good communicator, a good team player.

I work with a fabulous program looking to integrate these key attributes into their daily curriculum with and for their young adults who have gotten themselves to adulthood with serious deficits in these departments. I look back on their Individual Education Plans (IEPs here in the United States) and see goals about turn taking in conversation at least 2-3 times. I see goals about following 2-3 step directions verbally and/or visually. I see goals about them greeting peers. And I know that they have been prompted and scripted each step of the way. They are doing these things because someone told them to, not out of personal conviction.

We are seriously underestimating the ability of these little ones to engage, learn dynamically, share their creative minds with others even before they have chance. We assume they need rigorous practice on what... matching shapes? being compliant for the sake of being compliant? following a script for engaging with someone? Seriously?

I sit here imagining these "Great Employee" attributes in  Individual Family Service Plans and Individual Education Plans. There would be goals such as "...will take action above and beyond what is expected of him/her for a classmate (e.g., pick something up that a classmate has dropped, brings someone else a cup of water when getting one for himself)" or "....takes pride in his/her own work towards a goal/project/activity versus just the end result," or "....adjusts to new situations and reasonable demands (appropriate to age and sensory needs) with curiosity and drive to learn."

Yes, these seemingly lofty goals are also harder to measure but seriously, folks, I think know we can figure that part out. These goals put more on the adults surrounding the child to figure out how to arrange the environment for opportunities. But just imagine those classrooms with more children with these types of goals! Wow. We might just have a workplace of tomorrow with people who value being great team players and great employees instead of simply compliant beings. And what? Happier children who feel helpful, valued, supported. What a concept for all children. Not. Just. Autism.