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Autism Research Program

Autism Resources for Parents

Autism Resources for Parents

Many excellent resources have been developed to support parents and children living with autism. We have listed some key ones to give you easy access and helpful information to learn more about supporting your child’s growth and development:

Tips for parents:

  1. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Facts for Families: This website offers useful information for families on many issues that children face today.
  2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tips on Positive Parenting, also available in Spanish: A helpful guide to follow a child’s development from birth to 18 years old.

Fact sheets and materials:

  • Autism Parent Handbook provides answers to common questions about autism for parents and family members, the basics of autism, and where to find resources. It is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. Please call us at 1-866-279-0733 if you would like to order free copies of the handbook.
  • Fact Sheet about Thimerosal in Vaccines and ASD: summarizes a recently published Pediatrics article. Kaiser Permanente was one of three large managed-care organizations providing the strongest evidence to date that immunizations with thimerosal-containing vaccines during pregnancy or in the first two years of life does not increase a child’s risk of developing autism.
  • Fact sheet about Autism Recurrence is a fact sheet that summarizes what we know about the chances of parents with a child with autism having a second affected child and how research is working to better understand the factors that influence the risk of sibling recurrence of autism.
  • Autism Research Program Flyer is a bilingual flyer (English & Spanish) that parents can post in libraries, schools, and community agencies to help us raise awareness of opportunities to participate in ground-breaking autism research.
  • SEED Newsletters are bilingual newsletters published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were designed for participants in the Study to Explore Early Development and feature a page about California SEED at the Autism Research Program.
  • “Sam Goes to the Clinic” (English & Spanish) is a short story with simple language and colorful pictures to prepare a child for a visit to the clinic if families take part in a research study. The details in the story may vary depending on the nature of the study.

Webinars, websites and web-based tools:

  • AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit: The Academic-Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) website has information for adults on the autism spectrum, supporters, and healthcare providers. The resources on this site are meant to improve the healthcare of autistic adults and includes information on:
    • Healthcare
    • Staying healthy
    • Your rights in healthcare
    • Autism information
    • Medical Information
    • Checklist and Worksheets
      • Making an Appointment Worksheet
      • What to Bring to a Healthcare Visit Checklist
      • Symptoms Worksheet
      • After the Visit Worksheet
      • Autism Healthcare Accommodations Tool
  • Interacting with Autism: This is a video-based website on autism.
  • Family Voices Webinar, April, 2011, featuring Dr. Lisa Croen.
    THE IMPORTANCE AND BENEFIT OF PARTICIPATING IN AUTISM RESEARCH: Perspectives of a Leading Scientist and Parents of Children with Autism.
    The streaming may be inconsistent. For better viewing of the videos, click here and watch the “The EARLI Study” and “Parents’ Voices: Vanessa”.
  • The CDC’s Go out and Play! Kit: Website with activities and games to support learning for children 3 to 5 with autism. Part of the “Learn the Signs. Act Early” campaign, this resource was designed for caregivers and early educators of children 3 through 5 years of age. The kit includes:
    • Sample activities for children 3 through 5 years of age.
    • Information about monitoring developmental milestones.
    • Suggestions for how to make your activity day successful (and fun!).
    • Tips about talking to parents if you suspect a child has a developmental delay.
    • A special pullout section with activities to share with parents for at-home play.
  • Other Websites, Books, Community Services