School Related Resources

The Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders offers a wide range of educational and support services for families and school based professionals. 

Families benefit from a better understanding of the school process, and educators often benefit from a consultation for classroom practices or strategies to assist with an individual child. Because children spend so much of their time in school settings, it is important for professionals and families to work collaboratively to provide the youth with the best possible outcomes.

The Families, Agencies and Schools Together (F.A.S.T). program is a partnership between the Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Chapman University. Our goals are to educate families about the Special Education process, build collaborative and effective family/school relationships, and increase the neurodevelopmental knowledge and skills of school and community-based service providers. 

The F.A.S.T. team is a dynamic group of educational professionals and graduate students from Chapman University’s Attallah College of Educational Studies’ Counseling and School Psychology Program. F.A.S.T. provides meaningful support and solutions to families and schools through consultation, parent workshops, and professional development.

The F.A.S.T. team members have collective expertise in:

  • Psychoeducational assessment and multidisciplinary assessment interpretation
  • IEP (Individualized Education Plan) development
  • Behavioral, socio-emotional, and academic interventions
  • Transition planning
  • Building family/school relationships
  • Special Education law
 

For families, we offer educational workshops and individualized consultation designed to provide the knowledge and support to successfully navigate through the Special Education process. 

For school communities, we offer personalized consultation and professional development opportunities to increase the knowledge and skills needed for educational professionals to support the needs of the students and families they serve. 

Parent Education Workshops

Our Success in Special Education series is centered on helping parents and caretakers become active knowledgeable IEP team members with a focus on collaboratively working with schools. We are able to provide these workshops for Orange County School District’s Special Education Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings.

Educational Consultations

Some families benefit from individualized educational consultation. Current patients of the Center may be directly referred for this service through their medical or clinical provider. The FAST team works with the family and if appropriate, the child’s school team, to clarify concerns, develop a plan, and implement solutions. Our goal is to collaboratively strengthen family/school relationships in order to create effective, high-quality learning plans for children with specialized needs.

Educational Consultations

The F.A.S.T. team, as well as our Behavioral Intervention team, Speech and Language division, Clinical Psychology Services team, and Medical Providers, are available for individual student-based or general consultations, or on-going consultations regarding academic, behavior, socio-emotional and mental health supports for students with neurodevelopmental disorders, Special Education assessment, IEP development and service provision, and Adult Transition planning. 

Please contact our F.A.S.T. Director at 949-267-0448 if you are interested in scheduling a consultation. When needed, we will directly contact the parent/guardian to sign appropriate releases. 

Professional Development

The Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders offers a wide range of training opportunities for school staff and professionals who work with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders. We will work within the parameters of your learning objectives and proposed audience to create an effective and evidenced based training.  

Workshop Examples include:

  • Understanding  and Supporting Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders 
  • Conducting a Comprehensive School-Based Autism Evaluation
  • Understanding the Difference between a Special Education Eligibility and Medical Diagnosis
  • Building, Repairing & Restoring Positive Relationships with Parents
  • Demystifying School-Based Mental Health Supports for Students with ASD
  • Writing Useful and Legally Defensible Psychoeducational Reports
  • Autism and Language Development: What Parents Can Do to Help
  • Supporting  Transition  Age Youth in Continuing to Develop Social Communication Skills and Strategies
 

Please contact our Education & Training Director at 949-267-0444 if you are interested in professional development for educators.

ADOS-2 Trainings

We offer high quality on-site ADOS-2 Clinical Level trainings, as well as ADOS-2 Calibration Refreshers approximately twice per year. On-site ADOS-2 Advanced Research Reliability and ADOS-2 Toddler Module trainings are offered approximately once per year.  We can work directly with school districts or SELPAs to host their own ADOS-2 training.

  • ADOS-2 Clinical Level
  • ADOS-2 Calibration Refresher
  • ADOS-2 Advanced Research Reliability
  • ADOS-2 Toddler Module
 

Please contact our Families, Agencies and Schools Together Director at 949-267-0448 if you are interested in attending or hosting an ADOS-2 Training.

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