Through our founders’ combined 45 years of experience in the field of Autism, we have learned that appropriate services are still not readily available for Spanish-speaking children and their families around the world. Through our work in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Spain, and the U.S.A we are changing this reality every day.
Direct Services For Children
As part of providing best-in-class educational protocol to children, early detection is key. We work diligently in identifying children at an early age and provide them with the services that will make a long term difference in their lives. With that in mind, screenings and evaluations are provided to at least one new child each day. Direct services are provided to approximately 120 children each month.
Throughout Latin America, Spain, and Spanish speaking children in Collier County in Florida, we have provided hundreds of children with effective, research-based early intervention services in either their homes, early intervention centers or schools.
In Lima, Peru we provided resources to create an early intervention centre located in a 3,000 square foot building designed to provide services for children with autism and their families. The centre has a staff of 27 professionals who provide direct services to children in their home, schools and/or community.
In Ecuador, Chile and Spain, we have evaluated and set-up individualized programs for children in cities where, at that time, those resources were not locally available.
Services For Families
Providing families with the tools to facilitate acquisition of skills and manage difficult behaviors on a daily basis is at the core of our mission. Workshops for families are offered on a continuing basis throughout Latin America.
All direct services provided to the children includes an active parent participation component, as parents are key part of the learning process.
Community awareness also opens opportunities for families to be active members in the communities they live. For this reason, talks, workshops, tv and radio interviews are conducted throughout the various countries we serve so that knowledge and understanding in autism continue to grow.
Throughout Latin America and Spain we have trained parents in a wide range of topics, from basic understanding of autism, teaching daily living skills, promoting the development of language and social skills, to advocating for their children in schools and communities.
Support to families in more isolated regions is a continuing objective. Resources are allocated to bring effective services as well as further training on research-based strategies to families who otherwise could not afford them.
Services For Professionals
Throughout Latin America and Spain we have trained professionals in current educational and research-based practices in the autismo field. These professionals are now providing individualized services to children in their homes or pre-schools/schools. We provide continued supervision for the implementation of these services as well as advance training for the professionals involved.
Resources are allocated to bringing Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism Certified professionals to serve as presenters in various local conferences and workshops which are open to parents and professionals.
Professional collaborations has been established with local organizations throughout Latin America and Spain to develop comprehensive services based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis, including evaluations, intervention plans, professional development sessions, and research.
In conjunction with local professionals, we offered one of the first 40-hour, applied behavior analyst training seminar to a group of 30 psychologists, teachers, neurologists and speech pathologists in Santiago, Chile.
In April 2019, the First International, Research-Based Autism Conference was held in Lima, Peru with the participation of over 620 educators, psychologists, doctors, and parents.
Throughout these and other Spanish-speaking countries, we provide
the resources to conduct training workshops and provide on-going
consultation to local preschools and schools that express interest in
training their educational staff on effective inclusion practices.
Funding has also been provided to local professionals to travel to
international Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism conferences in the
United States as attendees and presenters.
Every year, we hold a series of fundraising events including cocktail
parties, silent auctions, e-mail requests for donations which, in
addition to many grant proposals submissions, support the above
work.