AUTISM SOCIETY OF GREATER PHOENIX
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Mission Statement
The Autism Society of Greater Phoenix is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information, tools, resources, and support to improve the lives of children and adults on the spectrum and their families. All of our board members are parents of children with Autism and share in the journey to provide the necessary supports for a successful future for all affected by Autism.
About This Cause
Resources for Families: • Parent Mentors provided support to families affected by autism in the following ways; answered over a thousand phone calls, moderated online support groups with members of over 1000 families, responded to hundreds of website contact emails and provided extensive help to new families through the Parent Mentor Program and continued assisting the families from the following year. • Parent support group meetings around the valley and additionally supports a teen group and adult group. • Autism 101, a monthly meeting for newly diagnosed families takes place in two parts of the valley and is open to the public. We have the class online and we also schedule additional Autism 101 classes as needed. • Public awareness and outreach is part of our mission. We speak for free to a variety of groups including schools, medical professionals, teachers and children so that they better understand autism and children and adults with autism. We educate hundreds of people a year. • Treatment grants for children on the autism spectrum whose families met the grant criteria. • Social activities for families including family picnics, holiday parties for children, monthly Lego nights around the valley, monthly Mom’s Meet Up’s around the valley, sporting events, Mom’s Night Out events and AMC Theater Sensory Friendly Films monthly across the valley. • Educational opportunities for families including workshops and our annual conference where over 200 people attended. • Conduct Be Safe Trainings all over the valley. Be Safe is a program to train our teens and adults on the spectrum on how to be safe with law enforcement. We partner with our law enforcement to provide better understanding of our community and provide training opportunities on autism and other disabilities for law enforcement. • Revamped website to provide more resources for services, providers, treatments and advocacy including access to video webinars for our members. We have also added Autism 101 Training video online for families in rural areas of our state. Awareness • Thousands of Autism Awareness brochures distributed to pediatricians, therapists and schools across the valley. • Distributed Autism Awareness brochures at a variety of events around the valley including the Zoo Walk for Autism, Autism Speaks Walk, etc. • “Children Suffering in Silence” documentary developed and distributed by Autism Society of Greater Phoenix. • “Autism Insurance” and “Medical Care” CD created and distributed by Autism Society of Greater Phoenix. Outreach and Training • Training for over 200 professionals including teachers and therapists at conferences and workshops. • Autism Society of Greater Phoenix participated in several IEP Partner Trainings. • Trainings for 2 Pow Wow Cub Scout Trainings, Arizona State University Teacher Prep Class training and 2 Charter school trainings which resulted in the education of over 200 professionals and dozens of children. • Training of 100 school nurses on autism at Gateway Community College. • We have designed a rural training program where we travel to outlining areas and conduct free 5 hour training for families on understanding autism and their child's special needs, advocacy in all systems, co morbid medical conditions and balancing family, marriage and life. Advocacy and Government Relations • Participated in the Governor’s Council on ASD. Our Vice President was appointed to the committee and serviced on the committee and two work groups. Our President serviced as work group member of one of the committee’s. • Assisted parents in navigating the Department of Developmental Disabilities, AHCCCS and Long Term Care systems from enrollment to preparing for the Fair Hearing process. • Champion state and federal legislation that will benefit children and adults with autism, in collaboration with the Arizona Autism Coalition. • Assisted hundreds of parents in navigating the special educational system and provided referrals to local advocates when intense assistance was needed. • Created Fair Hearing Files to assist families with the process. The files included potential exhibits for the fair hearing as well as potential responses to motions filed by the DDD. Templates for letters of medical necessity were created to assist pediatrician’s document medical necessity for autism therapies for their clients. Templates were created for the courtroom process (i.e.: opening arguments, closing arguments, cross examination, etc.).