Page 5 - Eric Sadowsky News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Starts attending a dayhab in manhattan where he does volunteer work. >> it's simple things like setting tables, um delivering mail. they even have dog walking, delivering meals to the elderly. >> let's get to work everybody. >> eric's doing excellent job working. >> while they don't do that much, it's better than most and he has a mix of young people to be with and he has friends. >> reporter: but what eric and his mom don't know is that there's something even better right around the corner. >> reporter: coming up, a little light at the end of a long tunnel. >> he is really a gifted artist. an...

Great with math. that's about three dollars? >> right. >> reporter: nick donates the money he makes to the charity "make a wish" >> he had make-a-wish a number of years ago. and that was life-changing for him. >> oh thank you so much! >> not everybody works a paying job, but that doesn't mean they don't contribute to their community. >> for all your hard work. >> and right now we're teaching him how to do that with something a simple as collecting bottles and passing the money on to charity. >> reporter: for eric, the period of isolation and stagnation he went through after leaving the rebecca...

Adults with autism. >> i had wanted to put him at one of the local ys. they said they had a special needs program. it turns out now they only go to 14. this is a phrase i hear from agency, program, center, all the time. >> reporter: on the day after his 21st birthday, eric walks into school for the last time. >> bye eric! >> no, sabrina. you're not done yet! wait until 2016. >> that's so far away! right now we're in 2012. >> it's really tough. i wish we had more of a plan for eric. >> reporter: joshua rich, eric's head teacher, says the day is even more difficult because eric is the first stud...

It's a state decision. >> reporter: so the federal government can't say to florida, "you've gotta do the same thing." >> at this point under the law, no. >> reporter: what's more, lewis says states split their medicaid dollars between the poor and people with disabilities. she says it all adds up to a system that can't take that much weight. >> i think that the programs are overstressed with the numbers. i mean it's why we see wait lists. >> reporter: is that the bottom line, we just don't have the budgets? >> we have not addressed the need for long-term services and support in this country. >...

>> reporter: new york state says it's helping more and more people with developmental disabilities lead increasingly independent lives. it says it's in the process of shutting down those sheltered workshops and trying to help people find jobs. >> ruth can sing a peanut butter sandwich made with jam. >> i had always thought when he got older i had this vague idea that he would have some kind of a job and that it would be over. and i am only adjusting now over the last two years in this transition period to understand that it's never going to be over. as long as i'm alive, i will be caring for e...