Autism Tree Project Foundation (ATPF), a San Diego nonprofit organization dedicated to screening, mentoring and supporting children and families impacted by autism, announced that in 2014 it performed—at no cost to schools or families—Early Intervention Preschool Screenings to 2,369 children. ATPF was able to screen three times more preschoolers than it did in 2013, thanks to a new partnership with the Alpha Kappa Head Start, El Cajon, which has 14 center sites throughout San Diego County.
Autism Tree Project Foundation (ATPF), a San Diego nonprofit organization dedicated to screening, mentoring and supporting children and families impacted by autism, announced that in 2014 it performed—at no cost to schools or families—Early Intervention Preschool Screenings to 2,369 children. ATPF was able to screen three times more preschoolers than it did in 2013, thanks to a new partnership with the Alpha Kappa Head Start, El Cajon, which has 14 center sites throughout San Diego County.
Of the preschoolers screened in 2014, 23.9 percent were referred for further evaluation and/or were classified as borderline cases that warranted monitoring and rescreening in four to six months.
“Screening more than 8,700 children since our Early Intervention Preschool Screening Program was created in 2006 is a huge milestone for us,” says Dayna K. Hoff, founder and volunteer executive director of Autism Tree Project Foundation. “We know that early intervention is the best known solution for children with autism.”
In 2006, Kara Dodds, M.S., CCC-SLP, created a speech and language screening model specifically for ATPF with a mutual mission of identifying preschoolers with communication deficits and to assist families to obtain diagnosis and necessary intervention. Since then, Dodds has assisted ATPF in training 185 teachers and 21 directors on the protocol.
“Training teachers and working directly with preschool staff in helping the children at their sites participate in the speech and language screenings is a critical service for these preschool sites as we work side-by-side teachers helping to build a educational foundation in children’s lives,” says Kara Dodds, M.S., CCC-SLP. “Identifying children with communication delays as early as possible is the key to helping families access the therapy services needed so that children are more Kindergarten ready.”
ATPF’s long-term goal is to provide free Early Intervention Preschool Screenings to all 10,300 Head Start children in San Diego County.
About Autism Tree Project Foundation
Founded in 2003, the Autism Tree Project Foundation (ATPF) is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving communities in San Diego County and the Bay Area by assisting with education, advocacy, screening and mentoring for families impacted by autism.
More than 2,000 youth are screened annually with 8,713 preschoolers screened since 2006. ATPF’s Youth Education and Developmental Services coordinates a variety of intensive programs designed to engage youth with autism in a variety of services, aimed at improving their confidence and behaviors, plus improving their social communications.
Every family tree is touched by autism. If you don’t know someone with autism you will. Autism effects 1 in 50 school aged children, ages 6-17. *Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013.
About Kara Dodds & Associates
Kara Dodds, M.S., CCC-SLP is a licensed speech-language pathologist and a member of ASHA and CSHA. She is director of Kara Dodds and Associates, Inc. a private practice in San Diego and specializes in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of children with Autism, Apraxia, sensory feeding disorders and in developmental delay.
Her advanced clinical training includes certifications in PECS, TalkTools, PROMPT, and has trainings in the methods of the SCERTS model, New Visions feeding, and in Social Stories.Kara is Hanen certified and teaches More Than Words. Kara has presented at the Autism Educational Network, Peter Pan Association (Italy), and at Universities to graduate students about tailoring therapy for children with Autism.
Kara is author of a preschool screening model supported by UCSD, and used by San Jose State and Autism Tree Project Foundation as a tool in the early identification of communication delays in preschool children. Kara is co-author of the In Harmony: Integrated Learning Program using Speech and Music Therapy as well as co-developed the Kibbles Rockin Clubhouse: a DVD media enhancing social interaction skills through video modeling of children with Autism.
www.karadodds.com.
