Without a doubt, 2016 has been a great year at the University of North Carolina TEACCH® Autism Program. Our successes are only possible through partnerships with families and other members of our community. We wanted to share just a few of this year’s accomplishments with you:
- Our clinical services for families across the state increased dramatically with a 44% increase in diagnostic services and a 65% increase in intervention sessions.
- Our Chapel Hill team created a 5-hour weekly early intervention program integrating elements of structured teaching and ABA.
- Our Asheville Center partnered with Appalachian State to create a TEACCH® outreach clinic in Boone, increasing diagnostic services to rural families.
- Our Transition Services team partnered with Wake Tech to create a summer program to support students with ASD transitioning to college.
- Our Training program partnered with the Department of Public Instruction to provide the Fundamentals of Autism workshop to 300 educators from 60 counties. Our research team found that these educators increased their understanding of ASD and confidence in their teaching abilities.
- Our Charlotte Center partnered with Autism Speaks and Discovery Place to offer The Science of Autism to educate the community about ASD and to provide an autism-friendly environment. More than 3,400 people attended!
Wow! It has been an amazing year and these are only a few of the many accomplishments from our dedicated TEACCH® clinicians and researchers. We could not possibly have accomplished as much without your support. We hope that you will continue to partner with us to meet our vision for 2017. Our vision includes opening a new clinic in Raleigh, expanding our toddler services to other clinics across the state, expanding our college support programs to Eastern North Carolina, and creating an online course for supported employment professionals working with adults. As we near the end of the year, we hope that you will consider a donation to TEACCH® to enable us to fulfill this vision.
With much gratitude and wishes for a peaceful and joyful new year,
Laura Klinger
Executive Director, TEACCH Autism Program