Autism Services
Helping a child with autism achieve her language goals can be a journey full of challenges and hope.
Getting Started
We begin with a simple question: what brought you here? The signs of autism may already be familiar to you. You may have noticed difficulties with attention, poor eye contact, minimal interest in being social, repetitive phrasings and behaviors, or lack of speech. Perhaps your child has received a diagnosis of autism and you are looking for ways to help him achieve his educational goals. Whatever your reasoning may be, we are here to help.
Our Approach
We focus on building skills that will help your child engage more fully and effectively with both language and mathematics. Our goal is to support reading, writing, and math development so that learning becomes more accessible and less frustrating. For example, in literacy, we may begin by targeting sound-symbol correspondence and phonemic awareness—skills essential for connecting letters, sounds, and word parts. We also study morphology (word formation) and provide strategies to strengthen comprehension, fluency, and written expression. In mathematics, we emphasize number sense, fact fluency, and problem-solving strategies, while also addressing the language of math to support word problems and conceptual understanding. Overall, we aim to help your child use reading, writing, and math not only as academic skills but also as tools for thinking, communicating, and expressing ideas effectively.
Step One
We begin our work by learning about your child’s developmental history, paying particular attention to your own observations. We will pair your observations with our own, particularly as we assess issues related to sensory engagement with the environment and thought patterns. Finally, we will do a thorough assessment of your child through direct interaction. This initial assessment, and our communication with you, will give us a good understanding of where we need to begin our journey together.
Empowering You
In everything we do, we strive to empower you and your family as you navigate the landscape of rights, responsibilities, and resources. Our experience with both direct practice and educational policy will help us empower you you navigate the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process, seek resources, and understand the laws that pertain to you and your family. We can help you discover what accommodations and modifications may be available to your family and serve as companions to you on your journey.
The Next Step
Contact us by filling out the information form. Find out more about how we can work together to build a better future for your child—often at no cost to you.
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLANS
An Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is a written document intended to help children reach specific education goals that may otherwise be difficult to attain. Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document. The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve academic, behavioral and social skills that apply to the needs of the individual child. To obtain an IEP, your child must first be identified for special educational services and from there, a multi-step process begins that will ensure your child receives the appropriate services and support needed to succeed.
At the Acacia Center, we believe that a well-formed and highly individualized IEP can be the start of a successful journey to reading comprehension and writing proficiency. We will work with you to build an IEP that meets your child’s specific needs and is geared toward her success.