What Lifelong Learning Really Looks Like: My Son’s Experience at the Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center

My son Karl first enrolled at the Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center (ABC) in January of 2023. He was 34 years old and had not attended any school since he graduated from high school 13 years earlier.

Karl is a very anxious young man who worries about things like “porch pirates” stealing his Amazon deliveries, getting sick with Covid and losing power in windstorms. He also has intrusive thoughts that torment him, and he has zero tolerance when mistakes are made by himself and others. So, with all of this going on in his head, I wasn’t sure he was going to make it when I enrolled him at the ABC.

Well, to my utter surprise, I shouldn’t have worried! Because it is now September 2025 and Karl is thriving at the ABC and continues to amaze me with his growth. By taking classes where he learns coping skills, and by reinforcing those skills at home, Karl has learned how to distract and calm himself in anxious situations, and to quiet his thoughts through mindfulness. Now we both say “Hakunamatata” (Disney movie buffs, like Karl, will know what this Lion King reference means) and shrug our shoulders when the small mistakes of everyday life happen.

For so many years we relied entirely on medications to treat his anxiety and intrusive thoughts, but now with a combination of medications and the positive behavioral supports he has learned at the ABC, he is managing at a level I never thought was possible.

The ABC has also been a place for him to safely explore friendships. During his middle and high school years, he experienced bullying, which affected his ability to form friendships.  Now at the ABC he doesn’t worry about bullying and even though it has taken a couple of years, he has finally made a new friend. Karl and his friend share an interest in action figures (mainly Marvel and DC comic heroes). Karl has always been excited when he buys a new action figure, but now he is doubly excited and looks forward to bringing it to the ABC to show his new friend. This friendship has even moved beyond the walls of the ABC recently when they both went together to one of the latest superheroes blockbuster films of this year!

My wife and I are in our early 70s. As aging parents, we realize that it is time to think about alternative housing for Karl outside of our home. As you can imagine, Karl is very anxious about this, and we find it next to impossible to discuss it with him without his anxiety going through the roof! However, we now have hope because of the coping skills I mentioned earlier, and because the ABC offers “Specialized Services” in areas such as “Acquiring Adaptive Skills” and “Coping Strategies for Everyday Life Challenges”.  By enrolling Karl in these specialized sessions, we hope that over time, Karl can build confidence and personalized strategies that can equip him (and us) for the inevitable stresses that will arise when he moves away from home.

As any parent of an adult child with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities will tell you – when dealing with both the State and Federal governments, we must often describe our loved ones in the context of their “worst” days. We need to focus on their disabilities to get the services they need. This has always hurt me, because I know Karl is so much more than his worst day. Now, finally, at the ABC, I can partner with his teachers and staff to celebrate Karl for who he is in his entirety. At the ABC I can describe him for the way he is on his best days, knowing that he and I will always have the support we need in creating his best future possible.