Autism Advocay and Family Support
Phone and Video consultations are available to parents, teachers, and caregivers of children and adults with Autism. Learn strategies, treatment planning, and getting the support you need from the system.
Navigating Educational and Medical Systems
The education system is a complex system of laws, procedures, and hierarchies. Being successful in obtaining adequate services for your child will involve becoming educated about how the system works, where to start, and obtaining the assistance you need to ensure successful educational and behavioral support for your child. An advocate can teach you how to obtain a meeting with school district professionals to begin the IEP (Individualized Educational Program), and how to prepare documentation for the meeting that addresses your child’s diagnosis, provides medical and psychological assessments, and addresses parent concerns and goals. Advocacy training also includes teaching parents and other family members to be assertive in environments where they may feel unprepared and intimidated. Advocacy will teach you what your legal rights are, the right way to pursue those rights, and help you manage the complex emotions involved in trying to help and protect your child.
The medical aspect advocating for your child can be intimidating. Advocacy will teach you how to research your child’s diagnosis and be prepared to question the suggestions made by medical doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. Advocacy training will walk you through the many scenarios in the medical system that you may encounter while trying to understand how autism specifically manifests in your child. You will also learn how to respectfully but strongly question or disagree with the suggestions and opinions of medical professionals as they are developing a treatment plan for your child.
Community Assess Disputes
Advocacy training will help you understand the ADA (AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT). Public environments such as restaurants, parks, movies, and amusement parks are aware of federal law; however, they are not always compliant with it. Advocacy training will educate you on how the ADA protects your child from discrimination in public settings. It will train you to pursue the same access to public settings that is granted to the non-disabled population, both verbally and legally.
Education
Choosing a school setting or a program is a crucial aspect of advocating for your child. Through the proper training, you will learn the right questions to ask of teachers and therapists. You will want to understand the structure of the class or program, how it is staffed, the educational and behavioral goals, and the philosophy regarding communication and collaboration among the family, outside therapies the child is receiving, and medical professionals.
Parenting Skills
Clinical Parenting skills will be taught to help parents, other family members, and caregivers. Clinical parenting teaches a parent how to separate and balance when and how to look at your child through the “clinical lens” and when to step back into the role of just being mom and dad. Balancing the emotions that accompany accepting and understanding the diagnosis while managing the emotions and challenging reactions you may have to your child’s symptoms directly affects the efficiency and results of advocacy. Referrals will be suggested after assessing the family system’s functioning.
