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Statewide resources

Autism Society of Central Virginia: The Autism Society of Central Virginia is celebrating over 40 years of non-profit services, advocacy, and support to children, youth, and autistic adults, their families and the professionals who serve them. They are a local affiliate of the national Autism Society, founded in 1965.

CA Commonwealth Autism:  Commonwealth Autism works towards a more inclusive Virginia for autistic and neurodivergent people in Virginia. We aim to build capacity throughout the autism community in Virginia by providing autism support services, inclusive employment, education & resources, and mission-driven social enterprise partnerships.

Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC):  Building positive futures for Virginia's children by working collaboratively with families, schools, and communities to improve opportunities for excellence in education and success in school and community life. We accomplish this by offering 1) Services and support for families and professionals 2) Easy-to-understand, research-based information and training 3) Opportunities for strategic partnerships and advocacy for systemic improvement. Our special focus is on children with disabilities.

Taking Action for Special Kids (TASK of Southwest Va.):  TASK is an independent non-profit agency serving families in Southwest Virginia for over 40 years. They help families with special needs children and professionals get the information and services they need. TASK works in partnership with PEATC (Parent Information Advocacy Training Center).

The Parent Resource Center of Montgomery County Public Schools:  The Parent Resource Center of Montgomery County Public Schools promotes parent awareness of the services provided by MCPS for children with disabilities.  Their center encourages parent participation in the educational decision-making process and provides support, mentoring and information to strengthen the parent/teacher partnership in all activities.

University of Virginia's STAR Autism Drive:  The Autism DRIVE, of UVA's Supporting Transformative Autism Research program, enables secure storage and sharing of autism data, helping to monitor progress and outcomes. The system also provides access to resources for families and professionals -- infusing cutting-edge knowledge into community-based practices.

University of Virginia's Supporting Transformative Autism Research (STAR):  The STAR initiative is led by the UVA School of Education and Human Development in partnership with colleagues across the University. STAR aims to improve the lives of autistic people through groundbreaking research and innovative models for intervention and training. 

Virginia Autism Council:  The Virginia Autism Council is a council of autism experts seeking to define needed skill competencies and to advance higher education, training and educational opportunities for personnel and caregivers supporting individuals with autism. This website is Virginia’s clearinghouse on best practices and research-based education and training opportunities to advance personnel development and knowledge regarding autism in Virginia.

Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD):  VBPD serves as Virginia's Developmental Disabilities (DD) Council. DD Councils are in every state and territory of the United States. They work for the benefit of individuals with DD and their families to identify needs and help develop policies, programs and services that will meet these needs in a manner that respects dignity and independence.

Virginia Commonwealth University's Autism Center for Education:  VCU-ACE improves services and supports for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by promoting the implementation of research-based practices in schools and the community through training, technical assistance, research, and collaboration.

Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center - T/TAC at Virginia Tech:  The mission of the Training & Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) is to improve educational opportunities and contribute to the success of children and youth with disabilities (birth–22 years). This mission is two-fold; first, to increase the capacity of schools, school personnel, service providers, and families to meet the needs of children and youth with disabilities and, second, to foster the state improvement goals for personnel development, which address improving the performance of children and youth with disabilities, by enhancing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and performance of all personnel who work with them.

Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center - T/TAC at Radford University:  The mission of the Training & Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) is to improve educational opportunities and contribute to the success of children and youth with disabilities (birth–22 years). This mission is two-fold; first, to increase the capacity of schools, school personnel, service providers, and families to meet the needs of children and youth with disabilities and, second, to foster the state improvement goals for personnel development, which address improving the performance of children and youth with disabilities, by enhancing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and performance of all personnel who work with them.

 

National Resources

Autism Science Foundation:  ASF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people with autism and their families by funding scientific research to understand the causes of autism and to develop better treatments. At ASF, we believe the greatest gift we can offer our families is innovative autism research that will enable individuals with autism to lead fulfilling lives with dignity.

Autism Society:  Since 1965, the Autism Society of America, and our affiliate network, connects people to the resources they need through education, advocacy, resources, and community programming.

Autism Speaks:  Autism Speaks is a national autism organization that seeks to promote autism awareness, advocacy and research.

-          Service providers can be found by state

-          A 100 Day Kit for Newly Diagnosed Families of Young Children

-          Adult Autism Diagnosis Toolkit

Children's National Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders:  The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD) is a multidisciplinary team comprised of pediatric autism specialists, including clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, developmental pediatricians, social workers and speech/language pathologists. These experts work together to provide the best possible care for autistic youth, and lead research to understand the underpinnings of autism and effective approaches to maximize autistic youth outcomes.

National Autism Association:  NAA’s programs are designed to provide tangible, effective resources to families, individuals, caregivers, educators, clinicians and first responders.  

National Autism Center at May Institute:  Dedicated to disseminating evidence-based information about autism and offering comprehensive and reliable resources for families, practitioners and communities.

Organization for Autism Research (OAR):  The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) was created in December 2001 and is the product of the shared vision and unique life experiences of OAR’s seven founders. Led by these parents and grandparents of children and adults on the autism spectrum, OAR set out to use applied science to answer questions that parents, families, autistic people, teachers and caregivers confront daily.

The Trevor Project (Suicide Prevention for LGBTQ Youth): The Trevor Project’s mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people. We believe LGBTQ+ young people deserve a welcoming, loving world. And we wake up every day dedicated to making that a reality through crisis support, advocacy, research and education. You can reach them at 212-695-8650.

University of California Davis Mind Institute:  The UC Davis MIND Institute is a collaborative international research center, committed to the awareness, understanding, prevention, and treatment of the challenges associated with neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Founded in 1998 by families of autistic children, they envisioned experts from disciplines related to brain development to work towards finding and developing treatments to reduce the challenges and improve the quality of life for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families. The MIND Institute is especially known for research and clinical therapies.

University of Washington Autism Center:  We are devoted to supporting autistic individuals and their families, caregivers, and community.  We do this through 1) evidence-based, developmentally sensitive, clinical services, 2) impactful and innovative research and 3) professional training and collaborative consultation.

The UW Autism Center is part of the Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD) at the University of Washington and incorporates faculty and staff from the UW School of Medicine, College of Arts & Sciences, and College of Education.

Yale Child Study Center:  We work to improve the lives of children and families around the world through direct services and support, research studies, training programs, and social innovation. The center also serves as an academic department within Yale School of Medicine, focused on child and adolescent mental health and developmental research.