Grant-Funded Work at TAP
The Autism Project has evolved and expanded over the years thanks to support from public and private funders. Grants enable us to create new programmatic offerings, expand our reach, and test innovative new ways to improve outcomes for individuals with ASD, developmental disabilities, and social-emotional, communication, and regulation challenges.
In recent years, The Autism Project received two state implementation grants that have served as springboards to expand our mission. Through this work, TAP expanded our services and our community.
SIM Conscious Discipline© Program
In 2017, the Autism Project received a SIM grant to introduce the evidence-based strategies of Conscious Discipline© to pre-K - 5th grade classrooms at three demonstration sites in Rhode Island. The CD Program employs strategies aligned with SIM Patient Engagement initiatives, including:
- Introducing Conscious Discipline© methodologies to provide a strong base of social-emotional learning to increase the ability of students (and teachers) to cope with difficult or stressful situations.
- Implementing evidence-based student and family engagement tools to measure and improve the efficacy of Conscious Discipline© in these settings.
- Addressing social-emotional disturbance literacy through student, educator, and family engagement and education.
The overall aim of the program is to provide children with social-emotional challenges or disturbances - and their classmates, teachers and parents - with tools to assume greater control and choice over their behavior and, ultimately, their health.
The second year of the program ended in June 2019; The Autism Project is currently in the process of evaluating impact and synthesizing results, to be shared in the coming months.
The Autism Project offers Conscious Discipline© trainings for educators and other professionals.
HRSA Creating the Connections Program
In 2016, The Autism Project received a HRSA grant in order to increase access to coordinated care for Rhode Island children with or at risk for ASD and other developmental disabilities and their families. The Autism Project took advantage of the opportunity to focus on what we already do well - family navigation and support, and education and training - to:
- Provide no-cost training in child development and the early signs of ASD to parents, caregivers, and frontline professionals, to increase early identification and provide information about how and where to refer children at-risk for ASD or other developmental disabilities.
- Expand our family navigation services to better serve our state's core cities.
- Develop shared care coordination resources such as the Rhode Island Medical Home Portal.
Through the program, The Autism Project grew our Family Support team to 6 peer navigators, including two bilingual staff and a liaison at the Center for Southeast Asians. The team provided navigation and support to over 1200 family members and 400 professionals and trained just under 3,000 parents and professionals in Rhode Island and on the Massachusetts border. The Autism Project continues to seek alternative sources of funding to support family navigation and support services.
