Supporting Families Today
Autism Response Team (ART) Coordinators are available to respond to family inquires and requests by phone 888-AUTISM2 (288-4762) or email at northeastART@autismspeaks.org. Find out more about the national Autism Speaks Family Services programs which include:
Supporting Communities Today
Family Services Projects in Development include 100 Day Kit in Spanish, School and Community Toolkit, Autism in the Workplace, and a Safety/First Responder Toolkit.
In New York:
We currently have 683 resources listed for the state of New York. We are always looking to identify more resources to provide to families. We encourage you to submit additional resources if you have information about a service or service provider that you feel would be helpful to individuals with autism and their families. Thank you!
The Family Services Division of Autism Speaks has now completed its third round of grants. New York received two Community Grants in the first cycle, three in the second, and four in the third. For more information about the grants awarded to New York and others across the country, visit the Family Service Community Grant page.
Family Services Community Grants December 2008:
Foundation for Educating Children with Autism - Mt. Kisco, N.Y.
Best Buddies New York - New York, N.Y.
Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program - Shirley, N.Y.
Developmental Disabilities Institute - Smithtown, N.Y.
Family Services Community Grants June 2008:
North Colonie Central School District – Cohoes, N.Y.
The Sage Colleges – Troy, N.Y.
Upstate Cerebral Palsy - The Kelberman Center – Utica, N.Y.
Family Service Community Grants December 2007:
The Cody Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center, Plainview, NY
Family Services Community Grants December 2008:
Foundation for Educating Children with Autism – Mt. Kisco, NY
Lisa Keogh
$19,125
http://www.fecainc.org
Vocational Training Education Program
The Vocational Training Education Program at Devereux Millwood Learning Center (DMLC) teaches students to obtain and retain salaried employment in the general community upon graduation. The staff and parents at DMLC believe, and research has shown, that people with autism can function independently at jobs that are suited to their strengths and abilities, as long as the specific tasks involved in the job are taught to mastery criterion. To match students' abilities with vocational opportunities, the parents and staff complete a vocational preference inventory. This inventory serves to evaluate what type of job the student would enjoy, as well as what type of job the student has the ability to perform. Once this assessment is complete, a job that matches the criteria is found. Students learn their vocational skills at many community non-profits organizations such as FoodBank, SPCA, Muscular Dystrophy Association and The American Red Cross where volunteerism plays an important role.
Significance for people with autism: Strong collaborations with non-profit organizations and the ability to provide a successful roadmap for employment opportunities for individuals with ASD.
Best Buddies New York – New York, NY
Mandy Fullmer
$21,250
http://www.bestbuddiesnewyork.org
Best Buddies LI Middle and High School Expansion Project
The Best Buddies Long Island Middle and High School Expansion Project will enhance the lives of students with developmental disabilities by providing them with opportunities for one-to-one friendships with their non-disabled peers. The Best Buddies program will strengthen efforts to serve youth with autism through student leadership training, community engagement and public awareness activities. The project will ultimately generate 660 new Best Buddies friendships and raise tolerance and awareness of students with developmental disabilities.
Significance for people with autism: People with ASD will have the opportunity to increase their social skills and further their participation in age appropriate recreational programs. This program can continued to be expanded through Best Buddies groups throughout the country.
Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program (RTSNP) – Shirley, NY
Steve Como
$17,314
http://www.rtsnp.org
Expand Rolling Thunder Running Team Promoting Inclusion, Fitness, and Social Skills for Autistic Spectrum Youth and Adults
Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program trains individuals with ASD, ages 3 through adulthood, and their family members, to participate in typical races in inclusive community settings: neighborhoods or parks throughout Long Island. RTSNP offers inclusion activities with typical peers and many opportunities to develop or improve athletic, fitness and social skills. There is never a fee for membership or coaching. No running experience is needed to join the team. All coaches are volunteers and the organization has no paid staff, there is a no wait list policy and individuals with challenging behaviors are welcome. Funding will help with the expansion plans include accepting new members, providing experienced members with new inclusion community practice activities, increasing mainstream competitions and provide uniforms for team members to practice during the winter months.
Significance for people with autism: Physical activity and fitness is important for all people and Rolling Thunder provides the supports necessary to help individuals with ASD to develop a life long skill of running. The program will work with individuals at all functioning levels. There is a strong opportunity for expansion and replication on a national scale.
Developmental Disabilities Institute – Smithtown, NY
Daniel Rowland
$16,849
http://www.ddiinfo.org
Adult Assistive Technology Program
This proposal aims to develop a new program within DDI to enhance the communicative ability of individuals with limited expressive and receptive language skills. The Adult Assistive Technology Project will begin with the acquisition of a variety of tools that can enhance communicative abilities for an initial group of 30 adults with ASD, as well as increase supplies to administer alternative and augmentative speech and assistive technology evaluations. By utilizing new computer hardware and software, as well as both mid- and high-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, DDI speech pathologists will be able to appropriately evaluate participants and determine eligibility for individual purchases of AAC devices.
Significance for people with autism: This project will provide adults with ASD the opportunity to sample AAC devices that may enhance their receptive and expressive language skills. As AAC technology has advanced many adult with autism may not have had the opportunity to sample the devices that are more readily available to children through educational entitlements.
Family Services Community Grants June 2008:
North Colonie Central School District – Cohoes, N.Y.
Rena Riccardi Hurley, M.S., RD, CDE
$17,100
http://www.northcolonie.org
PROMPT Therapy Training for the Treatment of Verbal Apraxia
PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Targets) Therapy has been found to be effective in treating verbal apraxia, yet this therapy in not currently available to children with autism/verbal apraxia in The Capital District. The school district, in collaboration with the PROMPT Institute, will offer a three-day training course for 24 Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) to be provided with level 1 PROMPT training. Preference will be given to SLPs who are based in the New York State/Capital District Region and have the ability to impact a maximum number of students. North Colonie Central School District will provide space and equipment for the training. The progress of this initiative will be monitored by each SLP enrolled in the training program: they will be required to measure the sound/language production of at least ten students prior to initiating PROMPT Therapy and again after providing six months of PROMPT Therapy.
Significance for people with autism: This program will provide training to Speech Language Pathologists to effectively treat children with autism who also have verbal apraxia.
The Sage Colleges – Troy, N.Y.
Thomas Zane
$22,990
http://www.sage.edu
Development of Webinars to Train Core Competencies for Parents and Paraprofessionals Working with Students with Autism
As autism diagnoses increase, the number of trained personnel to effectively work with these individuals has not kept pace. The aim of this grant is to create 90 hours of instruction on specific techniques and skills shown to be successful when remediating skills in this population, and to convert this training to on-demand, asynchronous webinars to be hosted on the web. The target audience will be parents and paraprofessionals who are typically assigned to work with students with ASD in public schools. The webinars will be available continuously through The Sage Colleges website. The development of these training modules will focus on techniques shown to be effective and are expected to facilitate the development of more competent staff who will then teach more effectively, resulting in improved independence of persons with ASD.
Significance for people with autism: This project will speak to the educational needs of those working directly with children with autism spectrum disorders. This grant will provide both education and training that will allow parents, paraprofessionals and professionals to interact more effectively with their children and students.
Upstate Cerebral Palsy - The Kelberman Center – Utica, N.Y.
Beth Myers
$14,980
http://www.kelbermancenter.org/
Awesome Summer Days Camp: Social Skills Training & Peer Coaching Embedded in a Recreational Summer Camp Experience
Awesome Summer Days Camp is the expansion of a successful pilot program and will take place at The Chadwicks Education Center that is owned and operated by United Cerebral Palsy. The program will work with each family to: (1) evaluate the child's current level of social functioning; (2) identify social skills that need to be learned or practiced; (3) modify and implement curriculum as needed to meet the child's needs; (4) practice skills during inclusion activities with Big Brothers/Big Sisters campers; and (5) test progress at the close of camp. Each week, Monday and Tuesday will combine social skills lessons with horseback riding, dance, art, photography and yoga. Each Wednesday the campers will join campers attending the Big Brothers/Big Sisters camp for a variety of field trips. Thursday will also be a day for inclusion activities spent with kids from Big Brothers/Big Sisters; campers will enjoy fishing and engaging in a variety of outdoor teambuilding exercises. The Center, in addition to using trained specialists, will be able to tap into the university community for program interns, many of whom will be inspired to pursue careers related to autism.
Significance for people with autism: The Awesome Summer Days Camp runs for five weeks and is open to children between the ages of six and fourteen who are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. With funding, the camp will be able to financially support the attendance of additional campers. The collaboration with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the opportunities for interaction with typically developing peers provides additional awareness for those with autism. Again, there is the ability to replicate this program.
Family Service Community Grants December 2007:
The Cody Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Shirley Woodward, MSW, Ed.D.
$19,800
www.codycenter.org
Supported College Program Pilot Semester
The Cody Center is making a request to fund a pilot semester of a supported college program for young persons with autism spectrum and related disorders for freshman and sophomore students at Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) who require social and learning supports to be successful in acquiring academic and vocational skills. It is an outgrowth of a summer pre-college program on which the Cody Center and SCCC collaborated, and provides the next step necessary for successful postsecondary education of the population of young persons with autism spectrum disorders. The project provides for a team of part-time staff members specialized in working with transition aged young persons to offer services in a "home base" room at the college, offering academic coaching in time management and study skills, self advocacy, and other skills required to succeed in college, as well as social skills training, vocational exploration and community internships. This partnership makes accessible a public community college education with its affordable price to students with autism spectrum disorders, for whom the disability services office is not able to provide the more intensive services required by this population of young persons. The pilot semester will enroll four to six young persons who meet the normal admission requirements of college but whose high school or college experience to date has indicated that they will not succeed unless additional services are available to help them transition to the independence and behavioral expectations of the college setting.
Significance for people with autism: This program provides the supports necessary for individuals with autism to participate in a college program. If successful, there is the ability to replicate this program.
Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center, Plainview, NY
David Rosner
$20,000
www.miyjcc.org
Aspire – A Camping Experience
Aspire is a pilot summer camp program, in collaboration with Variety Child Learning Center, using the natural environment for children with autistic tendencies to learn and to be included with their peers. The program will include 20 children across the spectrum, and facilitate inclusion. The components of the program will include a "train the trainer" model, which is based on adult learning theory, which states that people who train others remember 90% of the material they teach, and diffusion of innovation theory, which states that people adopt new information through their trusted social networks. Thus the Train the Trainer Project first develops a cadre of skilled community-based trainers, who in turn train others in their community or within an organization. More specifically, this proposal seeks to develop a pilot preschool program for children with autism spectrum disorders as well as to expand an existing summer camp for school age children and young adults by providing more inclusive experiences.
Significance for people with autism: This program will provide inclusion opportunities by trained staff in a summer camp program for children from pre-school to pre-teen ages.
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