Celebrate the Children Students & Alumni Appear in National Geographic Article

Celebrate the Children School

​For autistic youths entering adulthood, a new world of challenges awaits.

​Finding work, love, and independence can be especially difficult for those on the spectrum.

BY JUDITH NEWMAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LYNN JOHNSON
PUBLISHED APRIL 1, 2020​

‘GUYS! REMEMBER: ABOVE the neck! OK, go.’

We are practicing giving compliments at the PEERS Dating Boot Camp, a program for teens and adults with special needs who hope to find love. The participants, many with autism, are mostly in their mid to late 20s, but seem years younger. They come alone or with parents, caretakers, sometimes a sibling. Almost all live with their families. There’s lots of unfortunate facial hair, T-shirts from obscure bands (Radioactive Chicken Heads), noise-canceling headphones for the hearing-sensitive, plushy key rings hanging off backpacks.

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