Autism Services For Young Children
A basic rule for identifying and supporting children with autism is the earlier the intervention, the better. The coordinated, structured services provided by hundreds of Easterseals early intervention programs across the country help preschool children with autism learn skills theyll need to be successful in school.
Facing The Demands Of High School
Meanwhile, the demands on teens increase dramatically. By high school, students are expected to change classes hourly, keep track of books and assignments for each class, follow complex directions, complete multi-phase projects, and turn in homework on time.
Amy Keefer, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, said schools and parents can help teens who struggle with planning, organization and other executive skills.
“Teens on the spectrum will require a greater level of external supports from family and the school,” Dr. Keefer said. Those supports may take the form of frequent parent-school communication, teachers checking assignment books to make sure they’re filled out correctly, and teachers helping students break down projects into smaller steps, with due dates for each step, she said.
Many elementary schools provide those types of organizational supports, plus help with social skills, she said. However, educators often reduce or eliminate such help in middle or high school, when students are expected to be more self-sufficient.
“In general, as you move up the grades, the amount of support and scaffolding you get from teachers drops off,” agreed Dr. Rosenthal.
That can cause problems. “For most kids on the spectrum, they need those supports throughout their school careers,” Dr. Keefer said.
Find Parent Education And Support
Parent education and support services are available to help you care and advocate for your child with disabilities.
- Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers: There are nearly 100 Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers across the states and territories. These centers work with families of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and help them participate effectively in their childrens education and development. Visit the Center for Parent Information and Resources> to see contact information for PTIs and CPRCs in your state.
- Additional Parent Support Services: To find additional parent support services available in your area, select your state or territory on the See Your States Resources page and click on the Child Development and Early Learning tab.
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Finding A Place In The Social World
Even if they escape bullying, many teens with ASD struggle with social isolation. A large national study of teens receiving special education services revealed that students with ASD were less likely to take part in social activities than adolescents with speech and language disorders, learning disabilities or intellectual disability.1
More than 40 percent of the teens with ASD never saw friends outside of school. Half were never invited to take part in activities. For 54 percent, friends never called.1
A smaller study found that “social withdrawal worsened with age for a substantial proportion of youths” with ASD between ages 9 and 18, regardless of IQ.2
“Teens say actually the hardest part is not having friends. People think they don’t want to have friends, but they do,” Ms. Sicile-Kira said.
Dr. Keefer said many teens and young adults with ASD want, at a minimum, to be accepted. “There is a desire to be accepted, to have people around you who are nice to you and with whom you can share your interests,” she said.
The “special interests” common to autism can be an escape from social interaction, if a teen occupies himself solely with his favorite topic. “But, if used correctly, those special interests can be a way to connect with other people. An interest in gaming, for instance, is often a way for teenage boys to connect with one another,” Dr. Keefer said.
- See IAN’s Adults with Autism section.
A Guide To Inclusive Childcare For Childcare Providers
Childcare for children with special educational needs and disabilities is crucial to all families who need it. It gives children a chance to play with other children and adults, to explore the world around them, to prepare for school, or just chill-out after school or in the holidays. Childcare also gives parents the opportunity to work, train, get stuff done at home or spend time with other children.
Read our guide for childcare providers, which gives information about how you can make your childcare setting inclusive and accessible for children with SEND. This guide was written by Unique Kidz and commissioned by Coram Family and Childcare.
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Break Out Your Sensory Toolkit
Keep a few sensory tools or toys in your car or bag. You can offer these to your kid when their mind is overwhelmed.
Kids have different favorites, but some common sensory tools include weighted lap pads, noise-cancelling headphones, sunglasses, and fidget toys.
Dont force these on your child when theyre melting down, but if they choose to use them, these products can often help them calm down.
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Vision Your Childs Future With A Plan
You will be doing everything you can to elevate your child to a higher level of function. Raising an autistic child is more than feeding him and helping him to be better. Part of autism care at home is that you observe your childs progress and you vision his future. From time to time, you might feel physically exhausted or emotionally drained. It is normal and you are not alone. Reach out for help when you need it.
While seeking the balance of providing the right support to develop the childs independence, you most likely need to make a plan for his life.
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Finding Daycare For Your Child With Autism
Summer is here, and as the school year ends, you need to find daycare for your little one with autism. This includes finding someone who provides reliable, devoted, and quality care for your child. Having a child with special needs makes searching for someone even more complex: you may have to ask more questions to find the right person who matches your requirements. Thats why finding daycare for your child with autism is so important.
Search for Reliable Daycare Sources
When youve established the type of caregiving your child with autism necessitates, begin your search by finding the special needs community in your area and asking questions. Usually, you will find that there are other parents who have valuable information about local resources. However, remember that every child is different, and what is right for another parents special needs child may not be a fit for yours.
When in doubt, speak with a professional agency, one that has a lot of experience with children with autism. Meet the daycare provider in person, ask many questions, and request verification for state and federal compliance and licensing.
Check out DaycareProviders that Specialize in Autism
Ask Questions
In-Home vs. Daycare Centers
If you feel overwhelmed and you need help, please contact us.
Contact us for help. Dial 323-2133 or email us at
Providing Childcare For Children With Special Educational Needs And Disabilities
Finding the right childcare can be a real struggle for parents, but for those who have children with special educational needs and disabilities the task can be even more difficult. But childcare providers can help and it doesn’t have to mean that you need to make huge changes to the care you already offer.
With funding from the Department for Education, we have developed a series of resources to support childcare providers who want to make their settings more inclusive and provide care for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
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Childcare For Children On The Autism Spectrum
Emerging data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the number of autism spectrum disorder diagnoses continuing to rise, surpassing the estimates in 2002 by roughly 120%. For childcare providers, this means an increasing influx of children into center based and group care settings whose needs are very different from those of their peers.
Learning how to properly care for children on the autism spectrum is crucial for todays childcare provider.
Learn About Financial Supports For Children With Disabilities
- Supplemental Security Income for Children, Social Security Administration
Learn about how SSI provides monthly cash payments to help meet the basic needs of children who have a physical or mental disability or who are blind. If you care for a child or teenager with a disability and have limited income and savings or other resources, your child may be eligible for SSI.
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Accept Them For Who They Are
Regardless of the message many parents of autistic teens get from the people and organizations around them, there is nothing wrong with your teen. They dont need to be fixed.
Instead, make your teen feel loved. Include them in all your family events. Get involved in their favorite activities.
Respect their boundaries, whether by letting them have their own friends and hobbies or by giving them privacy when they ask for it.
A Temper Tantrum Is Not An Autism Meltdown
A temper tantrum usually occurs when a child is denied what they want to have or what they want to do.
Parents observe many tantrums during the terrible twos. This occurs when young children are developing problem-solving skills and beginning to assert their independence.
In fact, this terrible twos stage is typically experienced between 12 months through 4 years old!
When you look at why temper tantrums occur at this stage, it is important to consider typical development and why toddlers are so easily frustrated:
- Emerging desire to become independent, but limited motor skills and cognitive skills make it impossible to actually BE independent.
- Emerging, developing language skills make communicating wants/needs frustrating.
- The prefrontal cortex of the brain has not yet developed this is the brain center responsible for emotional regulation and social behavior so they do not have the ability to regulate!
- Toddlers are developing an understanding of their world, and its often anxiety-producing. This anxiety and lack of control often result in tantrums when it all gets to be too much to manage.
A hallmark of a tantrum is that the behavior will usually persist if the child gains attention for his behavior, but will subside when ignored.
When parents give in to tantrum outbursts, children are more likely to repeat the behavior the next time they are denied what they want or need.
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Cultivating Light Within All Children Through Compassionate Care
What We Do
Full Spectrum Child Care began after our Founder realized how additional support for families impacted by autism and related disorders is critical for the growth of the family unit. We at Full Spectrum Child Care are young, motivated and highly-educated individuals focused on providing exceptional and inclusive care for families with children of all ages and special needs.
We are here to assist parents and guardians with everyday tasks while raising a child on the spectrum by providing individualized respite services, community integration, and in-home care using Applied Behavioral Analysis techniques to support any current programs your child is apart of.
We have served families all over Los Angeles county and we are growing!!!
Pharmacological Treatments Of Aggression
The combined negative impact and frequent occurrence of aggressive behavior in individuals with ASD have been factors in driving the focus of pharmacologic research on ASD-associated irritability over the last 50 years. Second-generation antipsychotics are the most commonly employed first-line pharmacotherapy options for the treatment of aggression in ASD. Following several large randomized, placebo-controlled trials that demonstrated robust reduction in aggressive behavior with treatment in youth with ASD, risperidone and aripiprazole were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of irritability in this population. First-generation antipsychotics, antiepileptic medications , mood stabilizers, and several glutamatergic modulators are also frequently employed for the treatment of ASD-associated irritability, though with less robust evidence supporting their use .
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How Can You Become Your Childs Therapist
1. Know Your Child
When you have an autistic child, you are no longer just a parent. You need to become a therapist too. This can make the biggest impact on autism care at home. More often, it takes a longer time for a parent to adapt to a therapist role if he already raised a neurotypical child. The following are the key points to help you become your childs therapist sooner.
- Understand your child doesnt build most of the communication skills naturally. Everything is through learning. If you dont teach them, they wont learn, even sometimes with the simplest single words. We describe it as caring is teaching.
- Acknowledge that its their natural resistance to communicating. Their brains are not filled with the joy of speaking or socialization. They would rather point or grab you to get what want instead of communicating with you. You must motivate them to speak or interact with you.
- The best timing to motivate them is when they want something. Know your childs most favorite edibles or playable items. When they want something, you will make them look at you and say words/sentences whichever they need to improve. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING FOR NOTHING! This is the biggest trick to becoming your childs therapist. We are so used to giving them something when they point to an item or when we can guess what they want. STOP THIS TODAY!
Finding Day Care That Accommodates Children With Autism
Day Care for Autistic Kids
About 1 in 59 children in the United States will be diagnosed with autism, according to estimates from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In Philadelphia, the parents and professionals in the autism field say that a lack of providers equipped to meet those needs often results in children on the spectrum being rejected by childcare providers, and theyve had the experience of being forced to cut back work hours or quit their jobs entirely to stay home with their autistic kid.
There just isnt enough affordable, high-quality childcare for kids from birth to 5 anywhere in this city, Clarke said, who directs autism services at SPIN
Kids can be kicked out of programs, she said, when childcare staff cant manage the sometimes-difficult behaviors associated with autism. Thats if parents can find centers that will try to accommodate their children in the first place. The need for extra vigilance is a big reason and thats why it can be especially hard to place kids on the autism spectrum in childcare.
Chris Spross, the director of SPINs center in Frankford, has first-hand experience struggling to find care for a child with autism.
Sometimes parents quit their jobs when they see no alternative but to stay with their kids themselves.
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What Should You Do If You Think Your Teenager Is Autistic
Autism isnt curable. Its a part of your teens personality and selfhood.
Help your teen understand who they are and learn to love and accept themselves, especially if theyre worried about not fitting in.
First, see a pediatrician, psychologist, or psychiatrist who specializes in autism. Theyll be able to walk you through
- monitoring your teens development against a checklist of common developmental milestones
- performing an in-depth behavioral evaluation
- figuring out what resources may allow your teen to overcome challenges in adapting to neurotypical norms and becoming self-sufficient
Just like the signs of autism differ for everyone, the outcomes for autistic people will look different for each individual.
The first thing to understand is that your teen isnt impaired or deficient.
But they may need access to resources that can help them overcome challenges in adapting to neurotypical norms, depending on whether their ASD has been diagnosed as mild or severe.
Heres what you can do to make your teen feel loved and accepted by you and those around you, as well as how to help them love and accept themselves.
Educate Yourself About Autism
New resources for understanding and living with autism appear seemingly every day.
Talk to doctors, researchers, or speech pathologists with expertise in autism to learn:
- more about autism and how it works
- whats happening in a neurodivergent brain
- how you can advocate for your teen when others dont understand or accept who they are
Read plenty of books and visit online resources, too. Here are just a few:
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Services For Children With Disabilities
You are your childs most important advocate. To best support your child, you may need information about your childs specific diagnosis, early intervention services , special education services , social security benefits, and much more. Here are some resources to help you be their best advocate and support your childs growth, development, and well-being.
These resources can help you learn about the laws that ensure your child has access to the supports and services they need to thrive as well as programs and services that help children with disabilities.
Autism And Child Care: How A Lack Of Quality Programs Hurts Families
Kids in SPINs autism support preschool classroom work on their motor skills by creating a marshmallow fluff and Cheerio heart craft project.
How do we help children thrive and stay healthy in todays world? Check out our Modern Kids series for more stories.
Four preschoolers sat in a semicircle around a table about knee-high. Teacher Anne McCrane led the children in an activity designed to help them become comfortable with different textures, shapes, and flavors.
We are making hearts with fluff and Cheerios as an project, McCrane said.
She guided the hand of a boy smearing pink marshmallow fluff on a paper plate in the outline of a heart.
Good job! McCrane said.
In this autistic support classroom at SPIN, an early childhood center in Philadelphias Frankford neighborhood, McCrane was getting help with the marshmallow valentines from an occupational therapist. One child also had his own dedicated aide, or personal care assistant.
As the kids finished sticking heart-shaped Cheerios to their plates, two assistants guided five other children back into the classroom after an exercise session.
So you have five staff, nine children basically a one-to-two ratio, said Annemarie Clarke, who directs autism services at SPIN.
That ratio is high for a reason, Clarke said: SPINs autistic support classrooms serve children who are more developmentally delayed than some of their peers on the spectrum.
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