1) UCSD Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) -NFAR is working with the ACE Center on the "Early Identification and Treatment Program for Infants At-Risk for ASD in Spanish Speaking Families".  The ACE Team created a parent questionnaire that is administered through a network of over 140 participating pediatricians in San Diego at the One Year Well Baby Check-up.  Infants identified through this process as "at risk" for developing autism are then referred to the UCSD Autism Center of Excellence, where their development is tracked and further evaluated.  Families of infants displaying at-risk behaviors are offered early intervention services as well as parent training on how to work best with their child to enhance their growth and development.   As part of this study, NFAR is providing the Spanish language resources  and expertise necessary to include at-risk infants of Spanish speaking families in the study. 

 

2) Chula Vista Elementary School District Autism Coordinated Education Team, which serves over 300 students with autism, was awarded grant funding by NFAR for the pilot program "Teaching Students with Autism Social Skills through Video Monitoring." Video monitoring uses Applied Behavioral methods to develop and strengthen communication, social, functional and self-help skills.   These techniques are supported by numerous studies, which indicate that video monitoring and video self monitoring (VSM) can increase the performance of desired behaviors, especially those related to social and functional skills.  

 

3) Alliant International University, Caroline White, a Behavior Supervisor with CARES and Doctoral candidate at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) is evaluating the efficacy of "The Effect of an Integrative Parent Training Program on Quality of Life for Families of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder"  The Center for Autism Research, Evaluation and Service (CARES) is providing a comprehensive Integrative Parent Education Program of 2-3 hour workshops on nine different subjects ranging from Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), Social Stories and Social Skills Training, Self Help Skills,  to Biomedical and Pharmacological Interventions. With NFAR's support, families of young children with ASD would be asked to participate in the study by completing a total of 4 workshops (of their choosing) free of charge.

 

4) "P.A.C.E.S. (Parents of Autism and Children Empowering Success  - P.A.C.E.S was created several years ago by a parent of a child with autism and three educators in the Vista Unified School District.   The program originated from a desire to connect families (including siblings) of children with autism to other local families, and has grown to over 30 families.  NFAR is supporting this program with funding for audio visual equipment and children program materials.  "We believe that the P.A.C.E.S. program is helping to strengthen the relationships between parents, professionals, siblings and hopefully help to create some life-long friendships for those with autism."

 

5) Encinitas Union School District, "Paraprofessional/ Parent Training using Video Modeling to Implement the Use of Activity Schedules."  Kim Brown, a special education teacher and master student at SDSU will work with three families and prepare video models of activities for the child to perform independently in the home.  The goal is for the child (of moderately to severe autism) to accomplish these activities in generalized settings such as school after learning these at home, and creating an educational partnership between the educator and families for teaching a student with autism.

 

6) Rady Children's Hospital Autism Intervention Center, The "Jump Start" Program is a four session parent-child interactive training and support group for families whose child (aged 0-5) is at-risk or recently diagnosed with autism.  The "Jump Start" Program is unique in that it is being offered to families at a time when they are waiting for services and equips the families with information and strategies to help their child.

The once-a-week sessions are broken up as follows: First session is for parents only and covers topics such as the autism diagnosis, impact on the family, therapeutic approaches and common interventions.   The three subsequent sessions include both parents and children and focuses on strategies that facilitate engagement, play, language, self-help and social skills while reducing inappropriate behaviors. 

See projects funded in  2008, 2007, 2006, 2005