Tapping into Potential and Shining a Light on Possibility- Building Meaningful Futures for Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum with Strength Based Approaches and Developmental Capacity Supports

Karen McDowell is an educator with over 25 years experience working with the adolescent and young adult population. She is an assistant faculty member of Profectum Foundation and strives to implement a comprehensive developmental curriculum into both her classroom environment and therapy work. As a Lead Teacher and Young Adult Program Coordinator at Celebrate the Children school for 13 years, she has contributed to innovative curriculum and strategies with the unique needs of individuals in mind while promoting opportunities for growth and development in both group and individual settings. Karen facilitates a weekly young adult group for several years with intensive focus on social and emotional strengths and challenges. Areas of interest and study include executive functioning, visual spatial processing, emotional regulation, and problem solving and she has provided workshops around the country on these developmental areas. Karen strives to provide programs that entice thinking, collaborative problem solving, effective communication, and positive coping strategies to support success, independence, meaningful and fulfilling experiences, and happiness within the demands of the 21st century.

Steve brings a unique, granular, perspective focusing most of his 33-year career with the NYC Department of Education helping students with disabilities transition from school to careers and college. Credited for creating and providing expertise to best practice programs, partnerships and school restructure initiatives, Steve has a master’s degree in Special Education and a second master’s degree in Education Administration with a specialty in Education Law and holds multiple teaching and administrative licenses in both New York and New Jersey including Superintendent of Schools. Steve is Vice President of Education and Neurodiversity Employment Specialist for Identifor, the world’s first career assessment tool that uses app and computer games to systematically uncover underlying strengths and unique abilities of teens and young adults with ASD and other intellectual disabilities and match them with relevant career options, and using an international award winning advanced AI-based, 24/7 Companion, helps support them with a wide-range of life management needs. Steve is board member, guest university lecturer, and an international speaker that travels throughout the US showing young adults, parents, teachers, child study teams, clinicians and agency representatives and employers specific ways to help those transitioning to “real life” reach their highest potential once the school bus stops coming. With 3 children, including a 21-year-old daughter with a severe development disorder, another with a moderate disability and a freshly minted material science engineer, Steve knows first-hand what it’s like to raise his own transition aged children.