CCIU offers autism support programs

By DANIELLE LYNCH

The Chester County Intermediate Unit offers services for special-needs children and their families. In the area of autism, there are several support programs.
Brenda Eaton, of the CCIU, is involved with both the Autism Alliance of Chester County and the Childhood Autism Team Check, also known as CATCH.
Autism Alliance was founded in 2004 and supports the needs of families and their children and adults who have autism, according to Eaton.
In addition to the autism support groups in Chester County, there have been improvements in the area of insurance.
Back in July, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law the Autism Insurance Act, which provides $36,000 a year for Applied Behavior Analysis and other treatments for those under 21 with an autism spectrum disorder. Private insurers are required to provide this new coverage beginning July 2009.
Because Eaton is a mother of two children with autism and one typical child, she brings a personal aspect to her work. She said it’s challenging for parents when a child is diagnosed to figure out where to go, and what services they are entitled.
CATCH Team provides a collaborative approach for evaluating children under the age of 5 that may have autism spectrum disorders, according to Eaton. CATCH has developed a team that has administrative members from the county’s Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation; the county’s Department of Human Services; the intermediate unit; Chester County Providers; Community Care Behavioral Health; and the Regional Autism Center and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
CCIU Supervisor of Special Education Jacalyn Auris assists with a program called Community Help Adolescents with Autism Make Progress, or CHAAMPS, that provides adolescents with autism skills and experiences designed to transition them from school to community life. The specialized program is for those between the ages of 14 to 21, Auris said.
Students enrolled in CHAAMPS attend school at a community-based classroom in the Milltown Square in Downingtown for 25 percent of the day, according to Auris. The students spend another 25 percent of their day at a life skills house located off Brandywine Avenue in Downingtown where they learn tasks such as cooking, she said.
Lastly, the largest portion of the students’ day is spent doing leisure activities such as going to area gymnasiums; or they do vocational work at places such as hospitals or pizza shops, Auris said.

For more information about the Autism Alliance of Chester County, visit http://www.autismallianceofchestercounty.org/.
For more information about CATCH Team, visit http://www.cciu.org/SpecialEducation/catchteam.

To contact staff writer Danielle Lynch, send an e-mail to dlynch@dailylocal.com.