At Dedication, a Reflection on How the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services Changes Lives

Amy Gravino was diagnosed at age 11 as being on the autism spectrum. 

It was decades ago, when, she said, the word didn’t mean much. She was teased by classmates and told by a school official that she would never graduate high school, let alone college. 

“I only knew that I was different, and different was not acceptable as the world was frequently sure to let me know. At every turn I had people telling me who I was,’’ Gravino said Wednesday during the dedication ceremony for the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services (RCAAS), a facility that opened on the Douglass campus earlier this year to serve adults with autism spectrum disorder through vocational, academic and recreational programs. 

But now Gravino can define herself as an advocate, public speaker, writer, colleague, daughter and friend.

“I am a relationship coach in the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, a place I only wish had existed when I was growing up,’’ she said. “It might have spared me from so many of the hardships that I faced navigating life after college.’’

Gravino shared her story Wednesday as state and university officials gathered to reflect on the significance of the center and its work.

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