NFAR AWARDS EIGHT SAN DIEGO ORGANIZATIONS

WITH PROJECT GRANT FUNDING IN 2009

NFAR recently awarded its Project/ Research Grants and Autism Teachers Grants.  These grants were made possible by the proceeds of the 2009 San Diego Race for Autism. NFAR is pleased to assist the following organizations with their efforts to help those with autism.

1) Community Coaching Center- CCC will expand its community-based social behavior program to a second facility in North San Diego County. NFAR will provide the computer equipment and cost of staff education and training.  Scheduled to open summer of 2010, the CCC expansion will help serve up to 50 additional school-aged children with autism.

2) Kids Included Together (KIT)- This project will create on-line video resources for "tips on how to include children with autism in after-school recreation and enrichment programs.  These videos will focus on 4 key areas and provide additional support to the more than 1,200 professionals that have been trained so far using the NFAR funded Autism Training module "Supporting Inclusion for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." KIT services are free of charge and are available across 293 sites in San Diego, including the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club.

3) Crimson Speech Language Treatment & Research Center- NFAR will co-fund the "Developing Oral and Written Workplace Communication Skills" research project. The project will involve up to twenty adolescents and young adults with autism, and target a wide range of oral and written communications skills for a variety of workplace environments.

4) San Diego State University- This research project "Transition for Youth with ASD that are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse- School Preparation, Family Involvement and Outcomes" will look at and compare a more culturally and linguistically diverse population to those in the original NFAR supported SDSU Adult Transition Study.
Data from the National Longitudinal Transitional Study-2 (2005) determined that individuals with autism had the poorest school outcomes when compared to other disability groups. NFAR and SDSU researchers are hoping to identify key factors that contribute to and determine outcomes. 

5) Vista Hill Stein Education Center (SEC) After School Program- NFAR has awarded funding to the Vista Hill Stein Education Center to help underserved youth with autism remain in the after school program despite State budget cuts. This SEC after school program provides care, social skills and behavioral training and recreational opportunities to children and young adults that require much more support than is available in traditional programs.

6) Alliant University- A Doctorate study entitled "Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Children with High Functioning Autism and Anxiety."   Approximately 47- 84% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders experience clinically significant levels of anxiety. This 16-week research program for children with ASD and anxiety will review if the empirically supported Coping Cat CBT (cognitive-behavioral treatment) program effectively reduces anxious symptoms in children using a randomized controlled trial design.

7) TERI, Inc.- "Life Quality Planning for Individuals with Autism. As part of the TERI Inc. International Association for Life Quality Program, NFAR is providing funding for development of four Life Quality Plans for underserved families of an individual with autism. TERI, Inc. will be tracking the majority of the goals developed in the Life Quality Planning process to determine how these influence quality of life for the individual.

8) San Diego Unified School District- Their "Generalization of Video Modeling" study will evaluate the effects of video self-modeling on generalization of skills from the classroom to the home. If successful, the results of this study will be presented across different training venues in San Diego.

See projects funded in  2008, 2007, 2006, 2005