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VTAC lobby with child and clinician playing on the floor and clinician and mother sitting on a sofa talking.
Photo by Natalee Waters
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VTCAR Autism Resource Guide Winter 2023.pdf For Southwest Virginia and the Greater Roanoke Valley

 

Virginia Tech

Virginia-based

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 adults with autism, 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 collaborates to innovate, operate, and model services that support community inclusion for Virginians with autism through advocacy that builds awareness and creates engagement.

Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC):  The Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center builds positive futures for Virginia’s children by working collaboratively with families, schools and communities in order to improve opportunities for excellence in education and success in school and community life. Their special focus is 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 Autism Drive:  The Autism DRIVE 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 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 individuals with autism through groundbreaking research and innovative models for intervention and training. 

VA-Leading Innovation, Navigation, Knowledge, Supports (LINKS) LENOWISCO and Southwest Va. Autism Resource List:  This list has 6 different categories of organizations or agencies that can provide services to those with autism, and those supporting them.

Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Education:  VCU-ACE is a university-based technical assistance, professional development, and educational research center for Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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 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 VDOE's TTAC at Radford University serves public schools, teachers, students, and parents of Southwest Virginia through assistance that brings about systematic change in the way schools serve children and youth. TTAC services are provided primarily through embedded professional development.

National or Regional

Autism Science Foundation:  The Autism Science Foundation is a national autism organization whose mission is to support autism research and organizations conducting autism research. The organization also provides information about autism to the general public. 

Autism Society:  At the core of the Autism Society’s work is a goal to influence meaningful change in support of the Autism community. The Autism Society is your connection to resources, news, events, and support for the Autism community and helps connect you to the support you need, when you need it with our experienced Information & Referral Specialists at our Helpline.

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

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Autism:  CDC is committed to continuing to provide essential data on ASD, search for factors that put children at risk for ASD and possible causes, and develop resources that help identify children with ASD as early as possible.

Florida State University Autism Navigator:  Autism Navigator is a unique collection of web-based tools and courses using extensive video footage to bring science to communities.

National Autism Association:  The mission of the National Autism Association is to respond to the most urgent needs of the autism community, providing real help and hope so that all affected can reach their full potential.

National Autism Center:  The National Autism Center is a new non-profit organization dedicated to supporting effective, evidence-based treatment approaches and providing direction to families, practitioners, organizations, policy-makers and funders. The center is bringing nationally renowned experts together to establish national standards, model best practices, and conduct applied research, serving as a vital source of information, training and services.

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder:  Since 2007, the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder (NPDC) has worked to develop free professional resources for teachers, therapists, and technical assistance providers who work with individuals with ASD. Resources include detailed information on how to plan, implement, and monitor specific evidence-based practices.

Organization for Autism Research (OAR):  The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) was created in December 2001 – 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, individuals with autism, teachers and caregivers confront daily.

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.

University of Washington Autism Center:  The UW Autism Center is devoted to supporting individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders through exceptional clinical services, innovative scientific research and high-quality training.  Their mission is to offer state-of-the-art clinical services to individuals with ASD from birth through young adulthood, and their families; to increase community knowledge and service capacity through public awareness and professional training; to conduct research on what causes ASD, how it develops, and how we can help individuals reach their highest potential

Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Education:  VCU-ACE is a university-based technical assistance, professional development, and educational research center for Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Yale Child Study Center:  Since 1911, the Center has been serving children and families from birth through adolescence. Their mission is to improve the lives of children and families through research, service, and training. They are committed to continual improvement in what they do for children and families and in learning from all that they do as to inform that growth and improvement. 

 

The views and opinions expressed on external websites do not necessarily reflect those of the Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research (VTCAR).  While VTCAR hopes to list helpful resources, VTCAR is not responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, and VTCAR does not endorse or guarantee any products, services, or information described at these external sites.  VTCAR does not assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy of any product or information described on an external website.