Upon completion of the initial workshop, families will be given a prescribed set of programs tailored to the child's specific educational needs. If desired, a consultation report will be sent to the families within two weeks of the workshop. The consultation report reviews the programs implemented at the workshop in detail, including target items and next steps within each program.

The same consultant who provides training for the initial workshop is available to families for consultations (e-mail, phone, or video) between workshops.

The primary emphasis of the treatment program is in developing the child's social skills by focusing on speech and language acquisition and by eliminating any challenging behaviors that may interfere with the child interacting with peers. These skills are developed by each child at variable rates of progress. The skills are attained through phases that are closely monitored and evaluated by the consultant. The phases of the therapy can be described as follows:

Beginning Phase involves teaching children to respond to basic requests (receptive language), to imitate (nonverbally and verbally), to begin to play with toys, and to interact with their families. Beginning self-help skills, such as dressing, are also taught. In addition, the child learns that cooperation with requests will result in immediate and frequent positive reinforcement.

Intermediate Phase begins once the child has mastered basic tasks. This phase involves teaching in a more natural environment and continues to focus on teaching expressive and early abstract language as well as appropriate toy play and peer interaction. More advanced self-help skills, such as toilet training, are also taught in the intermediate phase. If verbal language has not yet developed, alternative forms of communication (such as sign language or visual cues) may be implemented to serve as a bridge or supplement to the spoken language.

Each day is divided into a few sessions. Generally, the sessions last anywhere from 2-4 hours with many breaks interspersed across the session. During a session, a specific task is worked on for about 2-5 minutes, followed by a short break (1-2 minutes) in the therapy environment. Longer breaks (10-20 minutes) are taken every hour outside of the therapy environment. The breaks provide the child with time away from structured activities as well as allowing generalization of new skills. This schedule is adjusted to meet the needs of each child and may be altered as agreed upon by the parents and the consultant.

Team Meetings

In order to ensure consistency across the program, weekly or bi-weekly meetings must be scheduled. Parents and all team members (excluding the consultant) should attend all meetings. During this time, parents are encouraged to offer suggestions, review progress, and evaluate staff. Observing each staff member working with the child or reviewing video of staff working with the child is recommended for each meeting. Parents should manage the overall program, with the guidance of the consultant, and approve all procedures and program changes implemented.

Follow-Up Consultations

We highly recommend that follow-up workshops occur on a regular basis. The initial follow-up must occur within 4-6 weeks of the first workshop. All workshops after that can be scheduled on a 6-8 week schedule or as needed. Each follow-up workshop must be scheduled prior to the consultant's departure.

Your consultant is also available for telephone consultations on a regular or "as needed" basis. You and your consultant can arrange an appointment time for a consultation. These consultations should not go over one hour of time.

Videotape consultations are also an option. These tapes should be no longer than 30 minutes in length and accompanied by any concerns or problem areas you have at the time. Your consultant will view and evaluate the tape and will conduct a phone or e-mail consultation. The time billed will include time viewing the tape, recording comments, and the time of the telephone or e-mail consultation.

Consultation Report

This is a report that summarizes all updates made during the workshop. The report will cover all programs and their next steps, when applicable. In addition, strategies to manage behavior problems, data collection procedures, and plans for follow-up will be included in the report. The initial report will be prepared free of charge.