Partnership with Families

For a program for a child with autism to be effective, it is critical that the family be involved. It is the role of the professionals in the educational program for children with ASD to understand the nature of the diagnosis and systematically implement researched based practices and included in these practices is assisting the family in being effective members of the child's IEP team. Therefore, appropriate programs for children with ASD must include a family component that targets parent education, individualized support for problem solving, and transition support. A successful partnership with the family will ensure the consistency among environments that a child with ASD will require to learn new skills and will also ensure that the family receives necessary support in coping with the challenges of raising a child with ASD.