Programs & Services (New – in development)

Transitions can be difficult for children and youth with ASD, but they don’t have to be. Parents will be provided with the tools, education and knowledge for advocacy skills and navigating systems seamlessly in order to support their child to experience smooth transitions. Sectors included can be between years of study and/or between school settings, secondary and post-secondary or for the adult sector, work force and community settings. These individual consultations and relevant ressources will be child/youth specific in response to their personal strengths, needs and specific needs of the family.

*Webinar will be in English, however, consultations are available en français

Learning social behaviour begins quite early in life. As we navigate this social world, we develop appropriate skills to the context of situations for healthy sexuality. For parents and children with ASD, this social world can become frightening. This interactive webinar will support families in developing useful social repertoires amongst their peers and the world around them. Kids should learn these skills as soon as possible to protect them from being vulnerable to certain situations. These tools will be shared with parents and individual consultations will target one appropriate social skill to maintain healthy boundaries.

*Webinar will be in English, however, consultations are available en français

Join us for a March Break camp, just for the siblings.

Sibshops is an opportunity for those who have a sibling with an ASD diagnosis. Sibshops is not therapy, but rather a venue for sibs to have fun, laugh, talk about the good and not-so-good parts, play some great games, learn something about the services/diagnosis of their brothers or sisters, and have some more fun.

This all-day session includes snacks and lunch. Our 5 day camp includes snacks and lunch.

Confidence and Bullying Prevention is a program designed by Model Me Kids. The program provides tools for preventing bullying and building self-esteem. Through videos, a workbook, discussions and activities, the program will cover:

• Self-Advocacy
• Peer Pressure
• Choosing Friends
• Building Strengths
• Visualization
• Positive Self-Talk
• Scripting
• Stay with Others
• Telling Isn't Tattling
• Walk Tall

This interactive workshop, run by a Speech-Language Pathologist will review a variety of AAC programs and low tech devices to help families understand their differences, benefits and why certain options may be better for their children based on their age, skill set, and development. She will provide a brief overview of what things to consider in choosing a device and tips on where to start. It will be followed by a question answer period to provide families with the opportunity to make individualized inquiries.

This skills group will aim to teach preschool and kindergarten learners prosocial skills for transitioning into the demands of a school setting. Learners will focus on school readiness skills, play skills, as well as self-awareness skills. This social skills group will provide learners with an opportunity to explore and practice social skills such as asking for help, greeting peers, turn taking, asking peers to play, and joining in on other peers’ play. Through a variety of facilitated activities, this group will also help learners identify and practice skills needed for managing their emotions and learning to cooperate with other peers.

This workshop and consultation series is recommended for families whose child has recently received an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. After receiving news of a diagnosis, families will navigate through a lot of information to make important decisions about next steps. This series offers 3 workshops, along with 3, 1:1, 30-minute consultations with a BCBA-D. Workshop 1 will provide an overview of various services recommended to families with a child with ASD. Workshop 2 will provide an overview of Autism and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and why ABA is well suited to address ASD. If seeking ABA based services, this information is key for knowing what to look for in providers and how caregiver involvement is key to helping children reach their full potential. Workshop 3 will review things to do as you wait for service that will aid in developing skills and routines in the home to maximize learning from the get-go. The initial consultation is aimed at gathering information that will be pertinent to focusing the workshops on the audience attending, with follow up consultations occurring after Workshop 3 which will focus on implementing ABA strategies in the home with coaching from a BCBA-D.

Teaching Parents to toilet train their child: 1:1 consult

We will train parents via telehealth and provide a few 1:1 consults specific to the implementation of teaching their child.
This toilet training program reviewed with participants comes from Dr. Natalie Paquet Croteau’s recent article published in the Journal of Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities.

Toileting is an essential skill for all individuals to acquire and serves as a steppingstone to the development of many other skills. This service aims to support parents and caregivers of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to teach toileting skills.

Toileting phases

• Research supported strategies
• Child centered approach to toileting
• Collecting and interpreting data
• Reinforcement and troubleshooting

This service is intended for caregivers or adolescents (age 13+) to receive direct individual support from a psychologist or clinical associate working under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Price or Dr. Matias Mariani to address challenges related to a range of issues (e.g., family problems, parenting stress, bullying at school, worries, etc.). The goal is to provide time-limited counselling to better manage emotions, improve problem- solving, and learn various coping skills.

The Resilience Builder Program (Alvord, Zucker, & Grados, 2011) is designed to support children in Grades 5 through 8 to bounce back from stress by developing resilience and protective factors, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, flexible thinking, and social competence. All materials will be provided.
Note: All applicants must undergo an intake interview to determine eligibility.

This caregiver group involves participation in a Parent Management Training (Kazdin, 2008) program that aims to enhance parenting skills to manage challenging behaviours in children, such as aggression, hyperactivity, and non-compliance. The training will take place virtually in a group session. Handouts will be emailed to participants prior to each scheduled session.

This caregiver group involves participation in a Parent Management Training (Kazdin, 2008) program that aims to enhance parenting skills to improve challenging behaviours in children, such as aggression, hyperactivity, and non-compliance. The training will take place virtually in a group session. Handouts will be emailed to participants prior to each scheduled session.