Raising a teenager is difficult under the best of circumstances.

Being a teenager isn’t easy either. And few things can make that troubling stage of life more complicated than being a teen with the condition known as Asperger’s Syndrome – the high-functioning form of autism marked by difficulties with social settings.

At the Verbal Behavior Institute we place particular emphasis on working with this underserved population.

Terence Blackwell,a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, permanently licensed school principal and co-founder of the Verbal Behavior Institute, has focused is practice increasingly on the needs of young people as they "transition" from school to the working world. Mr. Blackwell has also become a noted advocate for increased federal, state and private funding to deal with the emerging crisis of children with autism "aging out of the system." Tens of thousands of children with autism are becoming too old for special-education and similar services. But there are few resources available for adults with autism or Asperger's. Making things more difficult is that the parents of these young people are aging -- growing too old to provide the high levels of help and intervention needed.

Mr. Blackwell is available to speak with politicians, members of the press and other interested parties who share his concern about the transitioning and aging out crisis. 

Furthermore, in some locations, VBI staff are available to work directly teenagers with autism. In other situations, VBI offers training for families and educators who wish to help a teen with Asperger’s navigate the confusing world of adolescence.

Through specialized courses such as our "ASPER-Teen workshop (faciitated by a teenager with Asperger's) and our "Successful Transitioning from School to Work" workshop, we help teenagers along the autism spectrum complete their journey to productive adult lives.