Overview: 

As a provider working with families who have a child on the autism spectrum, families rely on you to help them navigate this new world they have entered. Physicians are often the first provider a family encounters when learning their child has developmental delays, but as a therapist (speech, behavior, autism, occupational, etc.), psychologist, case manager, or family advocate, you are likely to be the family’s ongoing service provider with whom they have come to rely on for information.

You are to develop at least 10 recommendations for a family who has just learned their 24-month old son or daughter has autism. This child’s language is mostly echolalia, and IQ and adaptive skills are considered low functioning. The family has not been in contact with any services up to this point, and is asking your help in finding what they need to provide the most comprehensive service plan for their child. The focus of this assignment is to point the family to the resources available in their community, not develop specific behavior goals or treatments. The purpose is for you to learn about the resources available in your community so that you are better prepared to help a family who has just received a diagnosis. Remember that not all families can afford private services and must rely on the federally funded services from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, thus finding these resources for the parent is very important.

Recommendations are typically several sentences long and provide an explanation of why it is recommended and where the family can go to find the service. Provide phone numbers, websites, and addresses when necessary (i.e., providing a family with contact information to a local ABA clinic). Sometimes, you find helpful handouts on the Internet that correspond to a specific service. If you find one, attach it to your assignment.

Of the 10 recommendations, you must develop recommendations for the following services:

1. Your local 0-3 intervention service (Part C services). Consult http://ectacenter.org/contact/ptccoord.asp(Links to an external site.) to help you determine the correct early intervention provider in your area.
2. Preschool services under IDEA (Part B services). This would be through the local public school system in your area
3. Financial aspects of autism treatment (waivers, supplemental insurance, etc.).

You are not limited to these topics, and I expect you to gather information from this module’s readings and videos to help you determine what other services are needed for this child. Don’t forget to review the Easter Seals website at http://www.easterseals.com/explore-resources/living-with-autism/state-autism-profiles.html (Links to an external site.) to help you with your assignment. You are not limited to this website either.

International students should still include any resources they can for the requirements above, but they are not expected to have resources that align with United States guidelines. Please research the guidelines in your country. If you prefer, you may choose Indiana (as your university’s home state) and provide recommendations for Indiana. Please make it clear that you are providing recommendations for another country.

Please see the rubric below to see how you will be graded.

Dos and Don’ts to remember:

• Be sure to personalize the recommendations to the family. Let them know whyit is important.
• Don’t use jargon or acronyms without explaining it.
• Don’t copy and paste description of resources directly from the internet.
• Even though you might know classmates who have completed this assignment in the past, don’t rely on the fact that they got it right even if they received a good grade.
• Give the family enough information about the resource so that they don’t have to go searching for more.
• If you want to recommend several centers that provide the same type of service (i.e. ABA clinics) then that only counts as one recommendation with multiple contacts. It is great to give the family options, but they need to be separate ideas.
• Don’t copy and paste contact information from websites. This tends to mess up your formatting.

Outline:

You are to use the outline above. This is just a rough outline, but it allows you to organize the resources to better help parents understand what you are referencing. It includes an area where you can introduce the list to the family to help personalize it. Additionally, areas for each of the required recommendations are provided, but you are not limited to only one resource per required area.  In other words, you can add more under each heading. Please do not change the headings for the required recommendations, but you may organize any  “Additional Resources”  in any way, and you can provide more headings under that section. Please reach out to me if you have any questions regarding formatting of the assignment. 

Rubric