Mission & principles
The name is the mission.
Operating principles are how an organization puts its values into practice. Here are mine, and the research underneath them.
What HOPE stands for
Help Operating on Principles of Effectiveness. The word was chosen because families in this field are offered a great deal of hope and not nearly enough method. Hope on its own is not a plan. Hope operating on principles that actually work is a different thing entirely.
Grounded in behavior analysis
Services here are grounded in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis, which has decades of research behind its effectiveness. ABA applies the science of human behavior to behaviors of social importance, with the goal of improving the lives of the people served.
Mission
To help individuals with autism spectrum and related disorders prepare for a meaningful life in adulthood — by changing what the people around them choose to teach.
Vision
A field in which preparation for adult life is the organizing question of a program from the beginning, rather than a scramble that starts once a learner is nearly out of time.
The values underneath the work
- All individuals are entitled to be taught skills that are meaningful to their lives and will position them for as independent a life as possible in adulthood.
- Choice, control, and competency are core rights everyone has in managing their own life.
- All individuals are entitled to live happy, safe, healthy, fulfilling, and dignified lives.
- Happiness and quality of life are uniquely defined for each individual — and can, and should, be attained by all.
Why this work exists
What the research says about adulthood
These findings are the reason this practice exists in the form it does.
- Outcomes in adulthood are lower in every area assessed for individuals with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder — and have remained poor for decades.
- Quality of life is reported to be lower for individuals with disabilities, including autism, than for the typically developing population.
- Each year, hundreds of thousands transition to adulthood without being adequately prepared to do so.
- For the most part, individuals with disabilities enter the adult world without the skills to attain adequate independence or function without supports.
- Adult services in the United States are drastically deficient in resources and in access to services of the quality and intensity needed.
Reason to remain HOPEful
What the research also says
Everything below is established, and every item is actionable by the people already doing this work.
Self-sufficiency is the measure
Success in adulthood may be best defined by the degree of self-sufficiency a person has. That makes adaptive skills — the ones leading to independence in our environments — a key outcome measure, and the priority in teaching.
Adaptive skills improve outcomes
Adaptive behavior skills have been shown to improve outcomes in adulthood across a number of areas.
They cover more than people assume
Adaptive behavior includes complex areas of human competence — safety, social skills, self-management, communication, time management, self-care, employment — and acquiring them is generally associated with greater success in adulthood.
Teaching them early pays off
Targeting adaptive behavior skills early can positively affect the long-term necessity, and cost, of services into adulthood.
Practitioners can already do this
Increasing adaptive skills is clearly within the repertoires of practitioners — especially those using the powerfully backed science of ABA, which has been used for decades to teach them successfully.
Which is the whole argument
The knowledge exists. The methods exist. The people capable of applying them are already in the room.
What is usually missing is the decision about what to teach in the first place.
One has most effectively helped others when one can stop helping them altogether. B. F. Skinner
Start a conversation
Tell me what you’re working on.
Every engagement starts with a free 15-minute call. No pitch — I want to hear what you’re running into so I can tell you honestly whether I’m the right person to help.