online parent tools development
Since 2009, Relate to Autism and our software development partner ilumivu have been developing online tools to help motivated parents do their own research and confidently implement activities and services they belief most useful to their child. Whether it's easily sifting through published papers, web articles and instructional videos, securely collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team, building a social-communication curriculum or tracking treatment responses, all tools are designed to meet day-to-day needs of parents with children with autism.
With pride we say that we manage to members many online parent tools without a fee and that our other tools and services are offered at very reasonable rates.
In collaboration with our members and other supportive organizations we have been able to continually expand and develop tools that support parents in their mission to help their children.
Read more about our Parent Tools
autism world views project
We are still very much in the dark about how people from varying cultural backgrounds see Autism. How autism is viewed in a society impacts how people with autism are integrated, what services are available for families and whether or not families use those services.
During the April Autism Awareness month in 2011, Relate to Autism executed the Autism World Views project. Our goal was to give a voice to people everywhere so researchers can design appropriate programs for children with autism. We created a anonymous survey and made it available in over 31 languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Thai and Portuguese. View the results from this project by clicking the link below…
Results of the Autism World Views Project 2011
easy access autism training initiative
Over the last twenty years or so autism researchers developed some very effective ways to help children with autism in almost every area of development. Many of these autism programs are designed with parents as key players. Parents are taught specific techniques to use with their child and given guidance what areas of development to focus on with their particular child. They are coached in using this knowledge in everyday interactions with their child. Research has shown that these types of programs are very effective. They do not only produce positive outcomes for the children, but also for the parents.
so, what's the problem?
| 1. | Most parents can't access these programs. Unless you happen to live close to one of the few university-based labs developing these methods, and are able sign up for a study, it is unlikely you will be able to receive the training. Most available programs require large amounts of time from highly trained therapists making them very limited in capacity and expensive to run. |
| 2. | The vast majority of these programs have been tested with middle-class, Anglo-American families. What about everyone else on the planet? No research has yet looked at whether these programs are appropriate and effective when used with families from various cultures or in countries outside the US and UK. |
how do we help?
Relate to Autism and ilumivu are involved in numerous projects designed to tackle both these issues, including:| • | ongoing development of the Parent Tools and web-based platform to facilitate easy access to autism training for families who can access the internet |
| • | exploration of online training methods for families on children with complex needs |
| • | collaboration with researchers who have developed evidence-based autism programs to bring these programs online |
| • | partnerships with organizations in the developing world to accelerate the rate of parent training through web-based technologies |
| • | the development of an effective parent training program that can easily be taught by local professionals in community settings - Parents Empowering Parents project |
| • | the investigation of the efficacy of specific autism intervention techniques in previously un-studied cultures and communities |
