A city catches up on needed autism services
by Beth
With so much going on over the holidays, you may have missed an article in the Stamford Patch celebrating the opening of the new autism services center at Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County.
The article recognized that Fairfield County lagged behind New Haven and Hartford when it came to autism resources, and that while other regions had established programs in the early 1990s, Fairfield County did not.
Dr. Thomas Zwicker was quoted in the article saying that the new center is filling a service gap and offering Stamford area residents the opportunity to have autism evaluation services nearby:
“There’s a gap in the number of providers who can do the evaluations,” Dr. Thomas Zwicker, BCBA-D, Director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Center, said. “We’ll have people from Yale who can do them here so parents don’t have to make the trip to New Haven.”
Leslie Chambers, Executive Director of Advancement at Easter Seals of Coastal Fairfield County, told the reporter that Easter Seals Coastal Fairfield County wants this to be an ongoing education center. One of the earliest workshops they plan to offer will help families navigate insurance for treatments. They’ll be working with area schools to create and improve programs for children with autism, and hope that by partnering with local pediatricians they can provide an opportunity to reach families early on. The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Center will educate families, schools, and pediatricians — what a great way to start the New Year!