Our Impact & Accomplishments

Please read on to learn how your support impacts our community. We will use this page to post our most recent accomplishments, impact, and other updates.

Quarter 4 Impact Report, 2021

Accomplishments this quarter

We hit an exciting milestone this quarter. We have over 500 members in our meetup group!

We hosted 21 events this quarter and launched a new program.

Companion Care Group

After much talk among our group members about wishing they could find in-home help on an as needed basis, we launched a pilot program called Companion Care Group. The concept is based on “body doubling” which is a technique used in the ADHD community. The person works on tasks that they have struggled to start and/or complete on their own and the “body double” acts as an anchor to help keep the person present. They don’t have to do anything other than be there with the person.

We have many people in our group who struggle to get things done around the house without someone there to “anchor” them. In Companion Care Group, we all come with a task we want to complete and all act as each other’s anchor. We are there both to support and to be supported by others.

At Companion Care Group, each person introduces themselves and announces what task they want to complete. We do three “Pomodoro” cycles of 25 minutes with short breaks in between to check-in. Some people go to a quiet space in our virtual room and others stay in a group because the conversation helps them focus.

This group has been a huge hit and we plan to continue offering it 2-3 times per month. In quarter 4 2021, we hosted four Companion Care Group sessions with an average of 11 attendees.

Social skills class

Our first cohort for the social skills class got great reviews and will continue with winter and spring cohorts at OUCARES. We may be offering the curriculum through additional organizations in the spring, as well.

All survey respondents said that…

The facilitators met or exceeded expectations
They liked being part of the program
They would recommend the program to others

There was a sentiment that students would prefer in-person learning opportunities. One respondent requested more specific criteria for self-evaluation of social skills beyond the scope of the class. In response, we developed rubrics for self-evaluation as well as facilitator evaluation of students to help them understand the progress they make during the class.

Special thanks to Bayer Family Foundation and OUCARES for helping us get this program off the ground.

Program overview

We started Companion Care Group and continued our existing free programs and events:

Peer support groups (3) and small group peer support 4-part series (1)
Companion Care Group (4)
Virtual hangouts (3)
Guest speakers & info sessions (4)
Game nights (2)
Walks (1)
Holiday special events (3)
Online discussion forum
Facebook group

Our free Peer Support Group continues to run the first Tuesday of each month. Fee-based small group peer support events are being discontinued for now. The small fee was not a popular option for our group at this time. We did recognize an unmet need for support in activities of daily living (ADLs) and have introduced Community Care Group, which continues to be a popular event.

As the weather became colder, our nature walks ended, but our monthly virtual hangouts and game nights continue. With the holidays, we had additional opportunities for social activities. We held our annual holiday party and we also had members host their own holiday events on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. The Christmas event was popular for folks who don’t celebrate with family and the NYE game night was a great opportunity to celebrate with our autistic family from the comfort of home. We hope to continue in-person events again in the spring.

Due to popular demand, we hosted a second Red Cross Emergency Preparedness presentation in partnership with Autism Alliance of Michigan, as well as a driver rehabilitation session with Origami Rehabilitation. We joined another autism group for their Autistic Voices Round Table event and hope to join them again in the new year.

The private Facebook group launched by one of our members has grown to over 50 members and continues to be our most popular place for members to chat outside of meetups.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)

Full Spectrum Agency hired US2 Consulting to lead our volunteers in understanding bias, discrimination, and privilege. We finished the four-part session with our own personal goals as well as organizational goals that we hope to work on this year.

Marketing and fundraising efforts

Our Giving Tuesday fundraiser was successful in raising part of the funds we will need to operate this year. We raised $1,635. Although we didn’t hit our goal of $3,000, this is a great start to the year. We plan to host fundraisers on our Ko-Fi page throughout the year to cover the remaining operational costs as well as the startup costs for a new “Allyship” program that is currently in the idea/early planning phase.

What do our participants say?

Here are some of the comments our participants have left on our meetup page this quarter:

“I really enjoyed this, you guys! It was really nice seeing you all. We got the whole walk in, and then took to the pavilion for some interesting conversation.”
“Anyone want to meet in the spatial chat at 5:30 before we start to hang out for a bit? I could hop in early if anyone else needs autistic bonding time as bad as I do this week.”
“Welcome again, to all our new fam. As always – so good to see all your beautiful faces, and hear your voices.”

Comments about Companion Care Group:

“This is a wonderful idea! There is more we can get done as individuals when we get together as a group!”
“I think this is a fantastic idea! I can think of a lot of things that I could do, that fit this type of much needed support.”
“Any time with you guys is good in my book – but I am growing super fond of these Companion Care get togethers. I’m finding it more helpful in doing tasks than I expected.”

Thank you to all of our donors, supporters, partners, and members for being part of the Full Spectrum family. We appreciate all that you do to make this important work possible and look forward to many more years doing this work together.

Quarter 3 Impact Report, 2021

Accomplishments this quarter

Small group peer support

The 12-person small group peer support meetings have continued, and we recently scheduled our first closed group four-session peer support series. Our members expressed that it can be difficult to get to know people well when they don’t know who will be at each event. To better foster the development of friendships, we are trying this new format. If it proves popular, we will continue the closed group program along with our 12-person small group and our large group peer support .

This quarter, we hosted 23 events, including five (5) small group peer support meetings and three (3) free large group peer support meetings.

Social skills class launched in September

Our first social skills class cohort of ten (10) students began September 20. Because of the generosity of our donors, partners, and volunteers, we were able to run the eight-week class for only $130 per student. The class filled up in less than two weeks and we plan to run part two of the series in early 2022. We will conduct a participant satisfaction survey and will include the outcomes in our end of year report. An impact report is planned for six months to a year after participants complete the course.

Full Spectrum Agency is in the process of developing a manual which can be purchased by other organizations who are interested in running the social skills curriculum.

Special thanks to Bayer Family Foundation and OUCARES for helping us get this program off the ground.

Expanding existing programs

Thanks to our volunteers, we have added new programs and also continued to offer our existing free programs and events:

Peer support groups (3)
Discussion groups (1)
Virtual hangouts (5)
Guest speakers & info sessions (3)
Game nights (2)
Walks (3)
Dinner and games at Dave & Busters, Livonia
Online discussion forum
Facebook group (new this quarter)

Our discussion group centered on disclosure and accommodations in the workplace, a hot topic in our group. Our members wanted to discuss this topic further, and this led to a panel presentation featuring a human resources manager, employment lawyer, and autism therapist. We will continue the discussion next month, after we have had a chance to process what we learned during the panel.

In addition to the disclosure and accommodations panel presentation, Full Spectrum Agency hosted an information session on Exceptional Academy and a Red Cross Emergency Preparedness presentation.

The Exceptional Academy is an IT program for autistic adults, offered by Living and Learning Enrichment Center in Northville. Last year, we hosted an Exceptional Academy info session and three of our members enrolled in the program. All three recently graduated and they joined the info session this year to discuss their experience. We hope that more of our members will enroll in Exceptional Academy this year!

The Red Cross Emergency Preparedness presentation was hosted in partnership with Autism Alliance of Michigan. This session taught our members everything they need to know to respond to emergency situations, including fires and natural disasters. We learned what should be in our first aid kits, what supplies we should have on hand in case of a power outage, how to use a fire extinguisher and test our smoke detectors, the importance of having a good escape/evacuation plan that works for everyone in our household, and more. We hope to continue hosting this event annually.

Our volunteers have continued leading nature walks and game nights, and one of our new volunteers even hosted a dinner and game night at Dave & Busters in Livonia. Our members are really happy to have in-person events again.

Another new group member and volunteer helped us start a private Facebook group, which provides another platform for our folks to socialize between meetups. The Facebook group is our most popular social media platform so far and we are excited that people are interacting and building friendships.

Marketing and fundraising efforts

Marketing and fundraising continue to be a struggle for our small, primarily volunteer-led organization.

We launched a Ko-Fi page to help with our fundraising efforts: https://ko-fi.com/fullspectrumagencyforautisticadults70870. Ko-Fi doesn’t take a fee and allows supporters the option of giving a one-time donation, giving to a specific campaign, or becoming a monthly donor. We did secure an additional monthly donor last month!

We will continue fundraising for scholarships for the social skills program and other paid programming. We plan to leverage our success with the social skills program to help us connect with new donors and supporters.

What do our participants say?

This is my favorite part of the report to write. I go through our event pages and find all the best quotes about how much people are looking forward to and/or enjoyed the event they attended. We had at least two events this month where people stayed on to chat beyond the end time. This is a sign not only that these social events are greatly needed, but also that our folks are truly enjoying spending time together.

As I mentioned in our last update, we believe that one of the primary reasons people love our programs so much is that they are led by autistic adults, for autistic adults. It’s easier for us to create a safe environment where people feel comfortable being themselves because we have the lived experience of autism. And many of our program participants have become volunteers and are leading events.

Seeing all the quotes is a great reminder for me and for our supporters about why this work is so important, and it allows our participants to express their gratitude to our donor community.

Here are some of the comments our participants have left on our meetup page this quarter:

“It was great meeting everyone. I had a lot of fun, hope we can meet again soon!”
“Another great one! Some of us stayed a full hour and a half past time. Bonus Episode. 😀 It was worth it. :)”
“I’m very much looking forward to our up-coming Pictionary game night!”
“Had fun with you guys. Good to see you all. 🙂 Helped me destress a bit from things.”
“Thanks again for hosting these games. They’re always a fun treat to look forward to!”
“Thanks for letting us try out Spatial Chat! It definitely lets us try out some real world skills in the virtual world. Making conversation is all about being there, making the effort, and letting it happen. Glad to meet/catch-up with everyone! Looking forward to doing it again on any platform.”
“Looking forward to a great walk.”
“Looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow!”
“I’m glad you all made it; it was medicine to see you all there and have that time with you… I really enjoyed that. Always do. 🙂 Welcome to all our new fam – it was great to have you with us!”
“So great to connect with everyone, thanks so much for coming out in the heat. Have a great week everyone :)”
“Wow…that was epic! Great game – and then some excellent in-depth conversation with those of us who stayed over. I did not fathom we’d be this late – but it was totally worth it. Welcome to our new fam, good to see those faces we haven’t seen in a while – and hope to see you all again, soon!”
“It was good to see you all, and I hope you have a good night.”
“I had a very nice time with you all… We did a little bit of everything! Even got in some swinging and climbing. Good times! Have a great night, you guys. Love you.”
“I have good news! I’m able to come tomorrow now because my other event got canceled so I’ll see you all then! :)”
“It was great meeting everyone I had a lot of fun, hope we can meet again soon!”
“Thank you for everyone that came out to Dave and Busters!!!! It was nice meeting everyone!!!!”

Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being part of the Full Spectrum family. We appreciate all that you – our generous donors, volunteers, and advocates – have done to make this possible and look forward to the impactful work that we will continue to do together in the future!

Quarter 2 Impact Report, 2021

The Full Spectrum family would like to express our sincerest gratitude for your support. Our mission, to support and foster independence and build community for autistic adults, is a crucial one for this vulnerable and often isolated population. Thank you for providing hope for so many. We could not serve our 350+ members without you.

Accomplishments this quarter

Small group peer support

We launched our 12-person peer support group to an overwhelmingly positive response. We hosted three sessions so far and have had a great turnout each time. We have been able to offer the sessions at a variety of different times so members who typically can’t make our evening and mid-afternoon events were able to attend. We have a great mix of regulars and newcomers each time. With the smaller group size, each person gets more time to share what is happening in their life.

Social skills curriculum complete, first class to launch in September

Our social skills curriculum is complete and will launch in September in partnership with OUCARES. The program is designed by people with autism, with input from our membership base, many of whom have been requesting social skills training for some time. We are excited to finally make it available to them. The class will run for 16 weeks (two eight-week modules) for 10 participants. We will conduct a participant satisfaction and impact survey and will include the outcomes in our end of year report.

In addition to demand from our members, we have had a positive response from other organizations who want to provide the Full Spectrum Agency/OUCARES social skills program to their clients.

Job creation

We are proud to report that we were able to create two paid contract positions to individuals with autism. If we are able to successfully expand our social skills curriculum, we will be able to provide more jobs for autistic adults.

Expanding existing programs

Thanks to our dedicated volunteers, we have also continued to offer the following free programming:

Peer support groups
Discussion groups
Virtual hangouts
Guest speakers
Game nights
Online discussion forum

And as we are emerging from the pandemic shutdown, we have been able to host a few outdoor nature walks, as well!

Marketing and fundraising efforts

Prior to this year, we have struggled to maintain a presence on social media. Since we were able to hire someone, we have increased our outreach. We are seeing a positive response with more people engaging on Facebook, more email inquiries, and more members joining our meetup group.

We have also expanded fundraising efforts. We are fundraising for scholarships for the social skills program. Because so many of our members struggle to stay employed, we can’t run the social skills program without scholarships. We will not turn anyone away because of lack of financial resources as these may be the folks who are most in need of the class. Learning the social skills may be what helps them secure and keep a job.

With the increased time we are able to focus on fundraising, we have secured funding from a family foundation, corporate gifts, friends and family networks, and our membership base. We continue to explore our personal networks, corporate giving, family foundations, and community fundraisers.

We have been able to leverage our successful growth in the first two quarters of this year to create much more awareness of Full Spectrum Agency and its mission. We believe that much of this outreach will result in financial support to continue this important work.

What do our participants say?

Our participants describe our peer support group as a “lifeline” and those that have tried other peer support groups in the past say that they are pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoy ours. We believe that this is in part because our programs are peer led by autistic adults, for autistic adults. We create a safe environment where people are allowed to come as they are, be themselves, and participate in a way that works for them.

Here are some of the comments our participants have left on our meetup page this quarter:

“Just want to say this was a great discussion–thanks all.”
“It was a fun time on the walk can’t wait for the next one.”
“I’m so sad I can’t come. I miss you all. Please have another walk soon.”
“I had a great time–it was incredible to meet you all face to face!”
“Thank you for the guided tour through the wonderful sunlit trails and hidden meadows of Lillie Park! It was great to meet so many of you face-to-face for the 1st time!”
“Yesterday was amazing! It was great to finally meet you all face to face.”
“The walk was great alright. Especially all the photo opportunities including the snake.”
“Thank you for all you shared with us today. It’s always interesting to hear another person’s perspective and input.”
“Thank you all! You’re the best! Glad to be among such understanding people.”
“Really enjoyed seeing and spending time with all of you tonight!”
“Thank you for the meeting… I’ve met very few autistic adults… I feel a little less strange now!”
“This was a lot of fun! Thanks!”
“Great chat tonight! Good to hear/see everybody.”
“Game night was really fun! Would love to do it again.”
“Really rich and substantive conversation tonight, guys. It was like vigorous exercise – but for the mind.”

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being part of our family. We appreciate all you have done so far to make this possible and look forward to a long and meaningful relationship with you – our generous donors, volunteers, and advocates!