Autism Community Network

THE GOAL OF ACN'S CLINICAL SERVICES IS TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY AND TIMELY AUTISMDIAGNOSES TO UNDERSERVED CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. In 2022, Autism Community Network (ACN) received 952 referrals from pediatricians or primary care physicians. Of the 952 children referred for services, 83 were over the age of services and 164 were unable to be scheduled or declined services.320 were under 30 months at the time of referral and thus placed into Earliest Connections Clinic (ECC) Diagnostic program. ECC was initiated in 2019 to serve infants at an increased risk for an autism diagnosis to afford these children earlier access to diagnosis and crucial early intervention services. 164 were unable to be scheduled due to no-shows or choosing to be seen by another office. Of the remaining children, ACN conducted 310 screeners which are focused examinations meant to look for markers of developmental differences in communication, social reciprocity, sensory processing, and emotional regulation. 100% of these families were provided education regarding their childs development and received coaching in developmentally supportive strategies to use with their child in everyday interactions to support child outcomes. 234 were recommended to return for a diagnostic appointment. 99 full interdisciplinary diagnostic evaluations were scheduled in 2022, and 89 were completed. 51% received a positive diagnosis with a 90% attendance rate. For a brief time in 2022 ACN continued the expedited diagnostic track. 78 appointments were scheduled and 70 were completed. 211 Earliest Connections Clinic (ECC) appointments were scheduled and 176 were completed (83% attendance rate). 53% of those evaluated were positively diagnosed. A new diagnostic track was added which is called MD only. This evaluation requires the physician only to medically evaluate the child, mostly because there is a wealth of medical history, along with public school eligibility (most often), and the presentation is usually very clear cut. Out of 52 scheduled appointments, 47 were completed with a diagnostic rate of 91%. 326 families were registered with TAV (Signify) and by extension, Autism Lifeline Links. ACN has dedicated 30 hours a week of staff time to serving the Autism Lifeline Links program. ACNs Family Empowerment Program has officially undergone a name change. It is now ACNs Caregiver Empowerment Program. When ACN shifted into lockdown in March 2020, ACN began providing virtual programming to support caregivers during this unprecedented time. Within four weeks of shutdown, ACN launched an online weekly education and support program called Coffee & Connection for two reasons. First, it would take the place of Family Empowerment Classes which were hosted at ACN for many years. Second, connection could be maintained with families and professionals, as most were navigating uncharted waters, especially with children who were now relegated to virtual learning, essentially putting special education support services in question. To this day, ACN has held over 135 sessions and the audience is consistently parents and professionals most of whom are caregivers to autistic children and/or adults. ACN intends to hold these classes in perpetuity and continue to invite speakers from collective impact group members such as Special Reach, Respite Care, and Any Baby Can, as well as speakers sought out to target specific, underserved subsets of our demographic. Furthermore, ACN can offer professional speakers from all over the United States, Canada, the UK, and now Australia, through existing relationships ACN clinic staff have. PACT ACN is proud to be the first in the US to use Pediatric Autism Communication Therapy or PACT.PACT is a theory based, parent-mediated, and video-aided intervention designed to improve social communications competencies in children with ASD. The principles of PACT derive from research on pre-linguistic, pragmatic, and language development. The approach is based on interventions developed for children with developmental language delays and targets core impairments in shared attention, understanding, and intentional communication. The rationale for PACT intervention is based on findings that children with ASD require a style of adapted interaction that is specifically matched to their individual level of social communication, (Green et al., 2010). PACT intervention occurs through child-led, naturalistic play, which is supported by the childs caregiver and filmed for retrospective reflective analysis. PACT intervention occurs through child-led, naturalistic play, which is supported by the childs caregiver and filmed for retrospective reflective analysis. Researched and developed in the UK, PACT has only recently become available in the US. ACN offers PACT training assuring primary caregivers of young children with autism, their parents, their teachers, and their early interventionists access to state of the art, evidence based, parent-mediated intervention shown to help caregivers understand and adapt to their young childs cues to promote the optimal developmental trajectory of children impacted by autism. Feeding Empowerment In 2022, ACN added the Feeding Empowerment Program thanks to two local funders. Feeding problems are defined as a disorder in which the inability or refusal to orally consume adequate nutritional, hydration, or caloric intake in the amounts required to thrive, results in negative nutritional, developmental, social, and psychological consequences. (Babbitt et al. 1994) Schreck et al. (2004) reported that prevalence rates of feeding problems range from 13 to 80%. This was supported by Nadon et al. (2011) who documented that 80% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience feeding problems. Children with ASD have significantly more feeding problems and eat a narrower range of foods than children without ASD (Seiverling et al. 2018). Unfortunately, because of the wide variety of developmental delays autism can affect, feeding is often placed at the bottom of parental concerns, however up to 60% of children diagnosed with ASD reportedly eat less than 20 different foods (Cornish, 1998) and 89% experience varied challenges around mealtime. (Ausderau, et al., 2019) Research collected by Autism Speaks states that 69% of children with autism are unwilling to try new foods and 46% of these children have developed unconventional behaviors surrounding feeding.ACNs Feeding Empowerment Program serves children struggling to obtain the proper amount of nutrients and variety in their diet. The mission of out Feeding Empowerment Program is to sustain better health and increased food flexibility, all while facilitating caregiver empowerment. Camp AUSOME! In 2022 ACN hosted the first STEM/Technology/Coding summer camp for autistic children called Camp AUSOME! WE:Code, in partnership with Youth Code Jam and The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. All participants were given full scholarships for the weeklong camp.

THE GOAL OF THE ACN'S AWARENESS, OUTREACH, AND COLLABORATIONPROGRAM IS TO CULTIVATE A HIGH LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF AUTISM IN THE SANANTONIO AREA, CREATE SOCIAL AND RECREATIONAL EVENTS FOR FAMILIES THAT ARESAFE FOR CHILDREN AND ALLOW PARENTS/CAREGIVERS TO CONNECT, AND GENERATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENHANCED PROGRAM AND SERVICE DELIVERY THROUGH COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS IN THE COMMUNITY.2022 ACN COLLABORATIONS Local agencies/school district collaborations: SAISD, NISD, Boerne ISD, Voices for our Children, YMCA, DHS Early Head Start Program, Youth Code Jam, AACOG, EISD, Early Head Start, KLRN, Camp Aranzazu, Autism Lifeline Links, COSA, Brighton ECI, Care Warriors, Inc, Kinetic Kids, Easter Seals ECI, KLRN, and Any Baby Can. National/International agencies/programs collaborations: Star Institute, Denver CO, Profectum Foundation, PACT UK, Queens University, and UC Davis MIND Institute. Mentorship/Training with area universities: UT Health OTD Program, UTSA Citymester Program, University of the Incarnate Word; School of Osteopathic Medicine, and University of the Incarnate Word; School of Professional Studies.ACN hosted the 19th Annual Le Brunch des Chapeaux after a two-year hiatus in March 2022. The luncheon netted over $250,000 and hosted over 530 attendees. The annual golf tournament, All Teed up for Autism, was hosted at Canyon Spring Golf Course October 2022.

The goal of acn's training and education services is toprovide high quality, best practices training and education for autismservice providers and parents/primary caregivers of children with Autism.