Mikey at high school graduation.
This month marks the 1-year anniversary of Seattle Children’s Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center’s grand opening. The Burnett Center offers year-round classes for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other developmental disabilities. In today’s blog, Tammy Mitchel, program manager for the Burnett Center shares some of her favorite memories from the past year.
Nearly one year ago, as I was driving to the grand opening of the Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center, my head swirled with thoughts, hopes, dreams and – admittedly – fears for this journey to open a center for adults with autism. Would it be possible to thoughtfully offer classes to adults with autism and serve a wide spectrum of ability levels? Could we teach adults who had never been in a kitchen how to cook for themselves? Would we be equipped to handle even the most challenging behaviors? And most importantly, could we create a community where all of this could happen under one roof?
I’m so happy to say one year later that yes, we could. And we did.
