bugs that are resistent to the medicine. those are the headlines, and "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. i'll see you here tomorrow, and you can get the latest news on aljazeera.com. >> on "america tonight," face-off. ratcheting up the pressure as ukrainians and forces with russian ties stand firm, as the diplomatic temperature risings too. also tonight, not so neighborly, the bay area's boom. why it's driving real estate prices to heights that you won't believe as residents ride out of the neighborhood. >> we're here today to say that the city, the tech industry, needs to work more to stop it.

>> and growing out of t when autistic children become adults. the search for support. >> . >> my job is to help those children reach maximum independence, and with that is the art of letting go. >> and good evening, and thanks for being with us. i'm joie chen. shots were fired, though the face-off in crimea has not reached full-scale battle, at least not yet. but the war of words with president vladimir putin and

secretary of state, john kerry, held a firm line over the crisis in ukraine, and both sides with competing views of realities on the ground. following a he said-he said debate, here's sheila macvicar. >> from the broadest strokes down to the details from moscow to washington, what happened in the ukraine and what happens now are two widely different views of reality. take the street protests and bloody battles that led to the flight of president victor yanokovych, and to the new interim government. here's russian president, vladimir putin this morning, speaking at a news conference. [ speaking russian ] >> interpreter: there can only be one assessment. this has an anti-constitutional coup and an armed seizure of power. >> reporter: and secretary of state, jesus christ, where he

toured kiev today. and the memorial to the fallen. >> the russian government would have you believe that the ukraine government is somehow illegitimate, or ignored by extremist. they overwhelmingly approved the new government, even with members of yanokovych's party for desserting him and voting overwhelming in order to approve this new government. >> reporter: then there's the question of who are these armed russian speaking men, wearing uniforms without insignia, and apparently under orders to say as little as possible. these soldiers, thousands of them, are raiding ukraine an bases in crimea and blockading ukraine soldiers. president putin says anyone can buy a uniform. >> reporter: look at the pro soviet territory, there are lots

of places that sell uniforms, go to a shop here. >> reporter: asked whether they were russian military men, he added, >> interpreter: these are local forces of self defense. >> reporter: these tweets and reporters on the ground seem to confirm american assertions, that the mystery soldiers are from full-fledged russian military units. people in crimea and elsewhere in ukraine were being targeted and attacked. >> when the life and security of the residents of crimea are being subjected to real threats due to the irresponsible provocative actions of gangs and ultra nationalists, we would like to emphasize that russia's actions are appropriate and legitimate. >> there have been protests, but no deaths or serious injuries since the interim government

took over. >> there has been no surge in crime, no surge in looting, no political retribution. the russian government would have you believe against all of the evidence that there have been mass defections of ukrainianss to russia or attacks on churches in the eastern ukraine. that hasn't happened either. >> interpreter: this coincides with our interests to protect those people who we consider closely linked to us. >> reporter: one crisis, two different realities, and at some point, for diplomacy to prevail, everyone is going to are to talk to everyone else. >> the language is heated, joey, the president accusing president putin of a pretext for invasion, and putin said that he comes as the request of an ally, a legitimate president, who he considers the president of

ukraine. and he says he's a crook with no future. >> so we have talked about the last day and the international community, and what it can do, and a big element is sanctions. what about economic sanctions . >> well, we know that president obama and angela merkel spoke for an hour on the phone this evening, and we're waiting to hear more about that. but perhaps the german chancellor has been back in touch with vladimir putin. again, they have a close working relationship. there's a sea of difference between what the united states says it would like to see and what the you were on an allies would like to see. the united states has made it clear that it would like to see sanctions that would hit russia hard. and russia said that it would retaliate. and that's probably one reason why the europeans are not in favor of sanctions. germany is a huge trading partner with russia, there are big european companies, bish

petroleum, which have big exposure in russia, and moscow on the thames, because of so many russian ol i gashes who own property, they don't want to risk what could happen there. >> there's too much to loose. >> yes. >> about the realities on the ground in crimia, there were warning shots fired and increased tension as ukraine forces stakeout sharper lines. nick schifrin joins us now, and nick, what you've seen does underscore that it dund matter what the forces are in, they're wearing their loyalties on their sleeves. >> they may not have russian flags, but they have russian plates, and they have names and numbers on their uniforms that are russian units, and they carry books in their bags that

we saw today that are russian, from russia. and the russian population is much more emboldened. we started the day outside of the russian capital. and we immediately came across the three or four hundred russian soldiers. they are russian soldiers and whether they're based here is not the point. but what they're doing is becoming more aggressive with the ukrainian soldiers who are absolutely out numbered and out gunned. and we went to the bases outside of what we saw was a very angry pro russian demonstration, trying to persuade the ukrainian soldiers inside of the base to give up their weapons. outside the crowd, not just russian soldiers, after a certain point, the ukraine soldiers invited the russian soldiers in. and we witnessed a tentative

agreement to kind of have these guns inside of the ukrainian base held duly by the russian soldiers and the ukrainians. the ukrainians were worried. and they calmed down until we got out there, joey. what happened, we were surrounded, and a lot of the soldiers believe that the western media in general is telling lies, anti-russian, and we were held for 2 and a half hours. at one point, they threatened to tip the van over, and they counted from ten, if we didn't show them the video, they were going to tip the van over, they were going to slash our tires, and eventually they let us go. they escorted us for about an hour to the edge of the county line, basically, to make sure that we didn't film, and it shows how much the russian soldiers are expanding here, working with, apparently, the russian demonstrators, and the pro russian demonstrators, getting much more aggressive and

much more bold. >> we know they were aggressive with you, and you are okay, and your team is all right? >> yeah, everyone is fine. a couple of people are a little shaken up by the size of the crowd, some 150 people. but i will tell you, this is a reminder, this is not a monolithic story at all. we were escorted to the gas station by some of the pro russian protesters after they slashed our tire so we could get a spare, and one of them, at least somebody in that crowd came up to us and grabbed one of us and took us aside and in english said, we're sorry, or at least i'm sorry, not all of us are like that, and not all of us believe that we should have done this to you for the last couple of hours. so by far, the majority of the people on the crimeaian peninsula are pro russian, but some are uncomfortable with the demonstrators being so bold as

to kind of capturer journalists for a couple of hours, and for all of the russian troops to be so aggressive increasingly inside of their bases. >> nick schifrin, thank you for reporting to us from crimea. much focus has been on the crisis in ukraine over the last couple of days, but as we noted on this program, the fierce stand off is underway in venezuela as well. thousands took to the street after the death of the first formal president, chavez, they were hoping that the tensions would cool, in answer to the president midora, but that has not happened. in valencia, angry clashes have taken place. >> reporter: they have been blocking the roads in this middle class neighborhood in valencia every day and every night for nearly a month. and the residents are tense. they approached us with suspicion. a 22-year-old student agreed to

talk to us anonymously. but then: [ gunshots ] >> run, run. an attack by the government's national guards. the latest of two or three such raids launched each night. no one was hurt. we did the interview on the roof of a building overlooking the battle ground. >> it's a human right to express your ideas, but within the constitution of the country, it's a constitution right to protect. the situations have gotten so bad that this is our last chance. it has gotten to the point where it's here or it's done. and that's why so many people say venezuela, either we fight for you, or we lose you. >> we returned the next morning. calmer now, but still a scene of intense debate among the residents. protesting against rising prices, police corruption and rising crime.

scenes like this in valencia, are common in venezuela. they become a place for people to air their grievances and a major challenge to the authorities. with each day of protest, the activists have become better organized. they have guards warning them. and security force and they have escape routes. >> so these people decided to go to the main roads to call the confrontation of the government. because they want to see what is the problem because the government is only watching one point of view, okay? but the other point of view, the 700,000 who bolt against him, he don't pay no attention to. [ gunshots ] >> the longer we spent at the barricade, the more the residents came to trust us. came to trust opinions they say are not heard by the venezuelan government or the marshal media.

some want him to be removed from the ballot box, and others say that he should step down now. >> there's more division between us, and more tuition between the families, and more tuition between husband and wife. >> reporter: the government blames opposition for the protesters of the violence, calls them fascists, the opposition says that their demonstrations are peaceful and they have no other option, but the government has given up on them. violent clashes are often. >> >> interpreter: what the president is saying is false, here you don't see anyone attacking anyone, but of course if they attack us, we have to stand up for ourselves. we don't have any guns. >> reporter: to the opposition, the barricades have become a symbol of defines, to the government, they're a challenge to authority. what's clear is now a regular feature of the venezuela an landscape, and what happens here in the next few weeks will have

a major bearing on the country. >> ahead after the break, perfect weather, cool community. and thriving industry. who wouldn't want to live in san francisco? why the bay area's many draws are forcing unwelcome change on old timers. you won't believe how high the rents have gotten now. and also, when a child with autism becomes an adult that you have to support. and families leading their children to adult and independent lives. an independent look at adults and autism, when we return.

>> welcome back as we consider a different sort of street fight over a place called home. in the san francisco bay area, the boom in the tech industry has lured a new and wealthier homeowner and renter to many neighborhoods, but at the same time, the city is becoming a cautionary tale for the rest of the country. america tonight's michael oku has more on the battle by the bay. ♪ >> it's a fight for the soul of san francisco. these protesters are targeting so-called google buses, the large, unmarked luxury shuttles for thousands of tech workers in the silicon valley. >> reporter: organizers tell us that they're goodabout to see a massive disturbance.

protesters say the 1400 bus that's rumble through the city each day park illegally at public bus stops and are turning san francisco into an overprices bedroom community for silicon valley, forcing out long time residents. >> we're here today to say that the city and the tech industry needs to work with us more to stop displacement. >> reporter: we talked to employees of google waiting to get on the shuttle and obviously they have worked hard to get to where they are, and what do you make of their plight? >> i don't think that anyone is against tech workers themselves but more so, we hope to engage them and maybe they don't understand what's happening in the city that they're working in right now and living in. >> i'm part of the problem. >> reporter: uhre works at

google, helping to design your car. >> you're helping the problem. >> reporter: i got a nice apartment in the city for a relatively high rent that others may not be able to afford. >> reporter: the silicon tech boom has lowered the city's unemployment rate from 8% two years ago to just above 5% today. but it isness also pushed housing costs sky high. average apartment is rented at $3,500 a month. and rents rose 25% faster than other parts of the city, according to a recent berkeley study. the majority of the shuttles leave from the mission, an area once dominated by artists and latino immigrants. in recent years, it has become the playground of the techs and

housing wars. tourists from around the world walk the area's narrow alleys to see murals like these, they tell the story of a neighborhood in flux. >> $51 million. >> this was done in 1996. >> reporter: the neighborhood's colorful appeal can be attributed in part to this man, renee yanyez. he founded de la raza here in the 70s. the museum of modern art told him it wasn't interesting, and he also started the day of the dead procession, an annual event that draws thousands to the area. but now, after 35 years, yanyez is being forced out of his home. timing is particularly painful. his partner is now battling

cancer, and two days before christmas, his landlord delivered a red and green card saying that he had to take a buyout. >> did you see it coming? >> well, i had a feeling, because of what was happening around the neighborhood. i thought that we were going to catch a break we had been there so long. it was a blunt instrument for lonelying long time tenants. in the last three years, the rents have jumped 170%. >> have you seen anything close to what you were paying before? >> not in san francisco, doesn't exist. >> so what does that mean for you? >> you cannot imagine how

pressing it is after spending hours and going through craig's list, and following tips, and it shatters your soul. it feels heavy. what can i say? it's one of those things that's painful. it's very painful, because i love the mission. >> it's ironic in some respects that this guy is being pushed out of this neighborhood that he helped build. >> reporter: city supervisor, david campos, represents the mission district. he introduced legislation to curb evictions and he cracked down on landlords. >> what's happening. >> i think it's an amazing city, and i think we're victims of our own success, but i think there have been abuses in terms of the real estate market. and i think that speculators are taking advantage of some of the loopholes in the state law.

>> reporter: the signs of a changing san francisco are everywhere. the owner of the empañada shop says that many of her long-time customers are being protectioned out of the city. >> everybody i know. appears to be homeless or on their way. >> reporter: in fact, paula herself is now being being evicted from her home, just a few blocks away. she hasn't found anything affordable in san francisco, so she says she may have to leave her 17-year-old business and go back to chile. >> to be able to keep this going depends on being able to live in the mission. >> reporter: but some titans of the tech industry are unapologetic, even claiming to be victims in the ongoing housing wars. >> it's a very important part of

america, namely the creative 1% are threatened. >> reporter: pom perkins, the founder of the giant client perkins, wrote a letter in the wall street journal last month, comparing them to nazis, he apologized for his language, but not his message. >> i mean silicone valley, i think that he has created close to 1 million jobs, and we're still doing it. it's absurd to demonize the rich forking rich and for doing what the rich do, which is get richer by creating opportunity for others. >> reporter: and the city is doing it's best to keep those companies here. two years ago, it offered twitter a $22 million tax break to stay. >> we're in front of the

so-called twitter building. >> reporter: the results in a recent media tour, he meets weekly with tech companies, and defends their interests. >> people stop blaming tech companies. they want to be part of the solution. >> reporter: housing protests have become a regular event in the mission. >> people are concerned that they themselves are an eviction away. >> reporter: representative campos said that the city needs to build more affordable housing, and fast. in december, the city built 60 affordable units and got 2800 applicants. he showed us a new development going up. >> this land will be given to the city by the school district so we can develop it into affordable housing, so that working and middle income families can stay in the neighborhood. >> reporter: how many more

units like that one? >> i don't know, but i think many more, and that's the challenge. >> in san francisco, you can't raise the rents simply because there's a new occupant inside of the premises. >> reporter: the landlords are not the villans in the story. he runs seminars to teach property owners about their legal rights. antiquated laws. he points to a 1979 law signed by dianne feinstein that caps the amount that landlords with raise the rents each year. >> let me give you an exactly. we have a duplex, and one person living in a one-bedroom apartment for 30 years, he may be paying $30 a month, and when it's vacant, a new individual may be moving in, and pay $3,000 a month for the very same configuration. the question, fundamentally, is that fair? >> but many residents say absent

more affordable housing, they need protection against evictions, and they want to put it to voters. they're packing meetings like this one, hoping to come up with a ballot measure for next year's election. >> outlaw or regulate rent. >> long time friend, good to see you. >> reporter: any measure will likely come too late for yanyez, but he will keep fighting to stay in the neighborhood he loves. >> if i have to leave san francisco, i'm going to leave with my head held high. >> and "america tonight" said that in response to the criticism, google will donate $7 million so low income kids can ride for free on city buses for two years, and it has spread up the coast to seattle. when we return, facing an

age old parent's dilemma. how to help your kid grow up. with a twist, when the child is autistic. >> the number-one question is, what will happen to my children or my child after my husband and i die, and along comes with that, what will happen it them as an adult? >> autism, independence, and a mother who helps other parents learn to let go.

>> now a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america

tonight." the do-it-yourself electronic retailer, radio shack, will close up to 1100 stores in the united states. a disappointing holiday season and a huge plunge in its stock value made the decision. president obama rolled out his 2015 budget today. the white house said the budget would raise taxes on the wealthy while providing a tax budget and expand early childhood education. newly released studies call into evaluation the early psychiatric studies used by the army. journal offer medical reports finds that 25% of all active duty soldiers suffered from some sort of mental illness before they enlisted in the army, from hdhd to panic addition orders to depression. >> . >> an increasing number of families in the united states,

one of every 88 american children, has been diagnosed with autism. a number that has almost doubled since the year 2000. and that is you have to enough for families but even a bigger challenge is looming for families of children with the developmental disorder. halresults will be living with autism in the next decade to live independently. a story of one man and his mother learning to let go. >> reporter: so thanks for letting us come to your apartment. >> you're welcome. >> i appreciate it. looks like a nice place. >> reporter: it is. >> 40-year-old brandon kramer is showing us his small but cozy apartment in santa monica. it's filled with nicknacks and prized possessions. >> this is my stereo and my entertainment center. >> reporter: nice. >> and my chair and my bed, and

my light. and my computer table. >> reporter: nice, this is your office? >> my office and my ipad. >> reporter: one of his favorite gizmos is this bright red button, familiar from a tv commercial, it brightens his mood. >> that was easy. >> reporter: that was easy. >> and then i have this thing that makes me feel better too. >> reporter: so if you're ever feeling a little blue, you can go to one of these things. >> if i ever feel a little blue or out of it, and i feel like getting happier, i do that. >> he was so tiny, as my grandmother said, he was like a little chicken >> reporter: but things have not been busy for brandon or his mother, amalia. as a newborn, he was tiny, 5 pounds, and from the time brandon was a toddler, his mother knew he was not

developing like other children. >> i noticed his speech, or lack of it. words would come out jumbled, mixed up. i thought though, that when he was two and a half, it would be a good thing for me to put him in preschool or nursing school, and when i did that, the teacher said, he won't play with anybody, he just plays on the side by himself. and he does one thing over and over and over again. >> reporter: by the time brandon was nine, he was having seizures, the diagnoses, epilepsy. back then, the doctor urged his mother to keep it secret. but brandon continued to struggle in school. socially, he was awkward and an easyterring for bullies. >> reporter: i put him into the public school, another mistake that i made. i mainstreamed him, didn't tell anybody what was wrong, and he got beat up every day. almost every single day. beat up, physically, emotionally, he was -- his shoes

were taken off his feet, on hot black tar, where outside in the schoolyard. >> bullying? >> bullying. >> reporter: as brandon got older, the bullying only got worse. >> he wanted to play basketball like the other kids, and he would play basketball, but his eye-hand coordination was so poor that he he had very slow move. and therefore, he couldn't make a basket and couldn't catch the ball. and the kids were smart. they knew that he couldn't catch the ball, so they would throw it at his face, and they couldn't stop it in time, and they had broken his nose several times. >> even then, brandon it been diagnosed only with epilepsy, and only years later when a psychologist friend gave her a book on autism, did amalia realize her son was afflicted

>afflicted. >> i read the book, every single box was brandon, can't make friends, every single one. i remembering so relieved. and yet saddened at the same time. >> reporter: for amalia star and other parents of autistic children, education typically ends after high school. most states stop special education at age 18. a few, in california, provide some support until age 22, and then the families are on their own. >> reporter: what's it like for families of autistic children when that educational support suddenly ends in. >> parents are scared to death. the number-one question is what will happen to my children or my child after my husband and i die? and along comes with that, what will happen to him as an adult? >> amalia was able to help

brandon find this apartment in a government subsidized housing complex. it's tiny, less than 400 square feet. but brandon is able to live here independently with financial help from social security. he has been on his own now for 16 years. >> yeah, i like it a lot, because i can come and go as i please, and i don't have to worry about, i just feel happier. >> reporter: you don't are to worry about somebody checking up on you, you're your own man. >> and every so often, my mom checks on me on the phone or whatever, and she comes out here, and i call her and let her know what's going on, and stuff like that. >> reporter: you take a right here or keep going? >> keep going. >> fewer than one in ten autistic adults hold a full-time job. according to social security, brandon is nibble to be work because his epileptic seizures can be severe.

he cannot drive or ride a bike. so he spends his days walking the sunny streets of santa monica. >> what is this called here. >> oh, the promenade. it's like an outdoor mall, and it's easy for me because i can walk everywhere, and it's nice >> reporter: good place for you to be independent. >> exactly, because there's everything for me to do. >> reporter: sometimes brandon runs errands and fetches coffee for the jeweler, one of his better friends in the neighborhood. >> you look good today, look at you. all fresh. >> all fresh and dressed up just for having fun. >> reporter: and he likes to visit with the paramedics, who rushed him to the hospital after his epileptic seizures. >> then you have the older one over here. >> this is 1952. >> wow. that one is kind of cool. >> reporter: over lunch, brandon tells me he feels safe ander secure here, at least

until the sun goes down. >> reporter: what's this neighborhood like? >> oh, the neighborhood is nice unless you have to be careful at certain times of the day or night. and then -- -- >> reporter: you have to be careful? >> just a little bit. sometimes at night, it gets a little -- >> reporter: a little rough? >> yeah, and then when it gets overwhelming with things, i go home and relax, because i get overloaded with people out here too. >> reporter: in california, where brandon lives, more than 70,000 individuals have been diagnosed with autism. most of them are children. over the last ten years, the number of cases across the country has exploded by more than 780%. that means a tidal wave of autistic adults are on the way. nearly half a million over the next ten years. brandon's mother is on a mission to help other parents help their autistic children carve a path

to independence. >> i have such an admiration for what you do for the rest of us. >> reporter: at a recent conference in orlando, more than 1,000 parents and professionals showed up to hear her keynote speech. >> a lot of us are stuck like glue. how could we be anything else? we're codidn't codependents. they will have a better life now and after we're gone. >> how are you doing? nice to see you. >> reporter: now aljazeeraia star has made a career of counseling adults and parents of autistic children. >> it will be time for them, maybe not for us, but for them. >> reporter: molly harris is laying the groundwork so her 19-year-old son, james, can live and thrive on his own. >> what's your biggest concern

about him becoming independent and leaving your home? >> reporter: one of them is that he something to do, like have a job, but also safety, because james is naive and trusting, so we do need to work with teaching him about what is safe, and what's not safe. where do you go if you need help, and how to ask for help, that sort of thing. >> when we as parents realize that our children will live 75% of their lifetime as adults, and much of that time without us, our job, whether they're two years old or newly diagnosed, our job on is to help those children reach maximum independence, that's our job, and the next job after that is to learn the art of letting go. >> sometimes i play that cdc and it doesn't work. >> reporter: for amalia, letting go has not been easy,

but now she sees her adult son only once a month or so. >> that's a good thing to put on your list. >> yeah. >> reporter: and brandon too has some advice for others dealing with autism. what do you say to other autistic adults who are a little worried about leaving mom and dad and going off on their own, what do you tell them? >> i tell them, look at me and how i've done, and you can do it too. >> reporter: now brandon hopes to join his mother on the speaking circuit, spreading the gospel of independence to families struggling with autism. >> look what's going now, the ferris wheel. >> they represent a giant wave, the new generation of autistic men and women with the challenge of leaving childhood behind and being adults. santa monica, california. >> we'll continue our continued look at autism and adults.

after the break, the staggering number of children reaching adults and what services are available.

>> coming up on consider this, a power backed lineup of the crisis in ukraine. former ambassador to the u.n., bill richardson, and former secretary of state, nicholas burns, and concerns over the protest in venezuela, and the cdc warns you that your next pill could make you sick, and gravity won at the oscars, a problem and what nasa is doing about it. when we see you at the top of the hour. >> welcome back. before the break, we met amalia star, who is working to help her 40-year-old son with autism live independently. in the coming years, a wave of autism is expected to really

grow. since the 1970s, experts estimate a 600% increase in people living with autism. and of a mill children will reach adulthood in the next decades. ann gibbons, and also, j james s conn el. we were talking about the magnitude. and if people really understand how bigging a group we're talking about. >> the numbers were almost unfathomable. when my son, phillip, was diagnosed in 1990, it was one in every 800, and now it's one in every 88 person, and one in 50 boys. >> dr., i have the understanding

that we're starting to understand more about the challenges and the numbers, but why hasn't there been more research done on the number of adults living with autism? >> that's a great question. i think that the reason that there hasn't been more research on the adolescent and adult populations because there has been so much interesting and investigation in early diagnoses and intervention, and as a result of the increased awareness back in 2004, 2005 and 2006, early identification and early intervention has gotten a significant amount of interest. but i think at that time, we weren't looking ahead to adolescent related services, transition services and education systems, and adult services, post-education, and it's not until this huge wave of individuals are beginning to leave the education system and an enormous amount of individuals, we're starting to

say, oh, my goodness, there are services available. and we haven't thought about this, and we need to start ramping up the research on these programs now. >> and in terms of what is available. and in the case of your son, you're talking about a 25-year-old at this point. a lot of families would be looking to see their child getting into the workforce and do more, but these sorts of opportunities are not so available. opportunity to work. 53.4% are employed within eight years after high school. 20.9% hold full-time jobs, and we're talking about people who are not able to find work. why is that. >> absolutely, and it was wonderful to see the story of the young man earlier who was able to live alone. but our organization recently completed a national housing survey with 10,000 respondents, and among those 10,000, 84% of the families with autism were living at home with their parents, and they're not able to

live independently, and what's more, 78 of the respondents, said their individual, their loved one with autism, needed at least some daily support. >> and dr. connell, you see this, for an older adult to gain independence, to work and live independently, do things that we expect adult children to be able to do, this is really going to be limited. i know ann talks about in the state of maryland having pretty good support. but is this the case across the country? >> no, i think that the support available now is extremely limited. and i think it begins with the education system, beginning with the transportation systems at age 14, and post-secondary education, and something really important, self advocacy. how to advocate for your rights and interests and needs. and those programs, and

evidence--based program beginning in the education system, are really absent right now. and there's no set of models or group of programs that are proven to be effective in teaching those skills, and focusing on transition services into adulthood, and thus preparing young adults for entering the social sphere with the rest of us. >> and thinking this is an unfortunate thing for families, but it does in terms cost to the entire community. enormous costs. >> absolutely, if i had been diagnosed with autism as a toddler, i probably would have been institutionalized. and i'm a baby boomer, which means that we're facing a baby boom list of young men and women who need support. and the community has to embrace them and that comes at a cost. >> tremendous cost indeed. and we appreciate you joining us and look forward to having more

conversations about autism. thank you resp. we do want to hear from you as well. if you have an autistic child, aging out of the support system, email us. sharing my story, aljazeera.net. and find us on twitter and join the conversation with us at america tonight. >> . >> ahead, in our final thoughts this evening, they designed the school so the students could attend during the rainy season. why the government of nigeria is considering sinking this school and the dreams of its students.

>> finally from us, a very special school in nigeria has been nominated for design of the year in london, but the state government has threatened to demolish it and the area to make way for more development. this primary school was built as a solution to allow children to attend class during the country's rainy season when many of the buildings in the area flood. >> reporter: this has the school that has been nominated for design of the year award, handed out in london. it's made of bamboo and tinder and was put together in just six week. it's the tallest structure here,

in a sprawling slum. they built it because the current school floods during the rainy season. >> [ unintelligible ] when the river rises, [ unintelligible ] >> reporter: the school's design is to show people here how the structures can withstand flooding. it was used by local people using local materials. but the state government has threatened to demolish the development. and that means that the local school can be demolished too. it can't be towed away either. it would be too far away.

where they live in macoco is a prime waterfront location, and the government wants to build houses here. the residents think that it could be integrated into any plans that the government might have, and it also makes environmental sense. no >> reporter: i think that perhaps if you think about the view of the climate change and the fact that there's an increase in flooding, and rainfalls, and the currents all over africa, perhaps it's intelligent to think about how we can use these kinds of communities and think about them as models for cultivating contemporary cities in africa >> reporter: so now the coo is the only floating building in macoco, and winning the design award may be the only thing that saves it. aljazeera, macoco.

>> that's it for us here on "america tonight." please remember, if you would like to comment on any of the stories you've seen, aljazeera.com/"america tonight." and you can join us on twitter on our facebook page. good night, and more "america tonight" tomorrow.

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