Autistic Adult To Launch Historic Autism Conference

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Scott Kramer, an autistic adult and program director of the GCA Centre for Adult Autism (Centre), will be launching the first adult autism conference east of the Mississippi River. The Inaugural Tri-State Adult Autism Symposium Conference is the first autism conference east of the Mississippi to focus fully on adult autism themes (employment, independent living, social relationships, health and wellness, and research). The conference will be taking place on Saturday, July 22, in Chattanooga at Red Bank Baptist Church, 4000 Dayton Blvd.

Mr. Kramer talked with about 25 executive directors in the disability community from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. "The overwhelming responses that the directors gave convinced me that I had found a 'gold mine of an opportunity' to reach out to the adult autism community in those three states." Formed with the idea of building community, Mr. Kramer recognized the need for this type of conference. "Countless numbers of autistic adults never had their social needs met in childhood, so those needs exist to this day. What this conference does is have social networking events take place the day before and day of the conference. By doing so, the social needs of these individuals can be better met."