Early Support Program for Autism Connects Families to Autism Resources
A free program offered by Stanford Children’s Health and the Children’s Health Council connects families of recently diagnosed autism patients with Bay Area treatment resources.
October 24, 2014
The Early Support Program for Autism, a free service with no waiting list, gives parents someone to call for up-to-date information about doctors, therapists, treatment programs and other community resources. The program is run by two providers of autism services, Stanford Children’s Health and the Children’s Health Council. Both. Both are based in Palo Alto, Calif.
“Parents are usually overwhelmed when they receive the diagnosis,” said program director Antonio Hardan, MD. “We developed this program to fill a void in the autism services in the Bay Area.” Hardan is also director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the School of Medicine.
“This program meets a huge need,” said Ramsey Khasho, PsyD, who leads the program at CHC and also directs The Center at CHC, which focuses on behavioral health services for children and teens. “We help families get connected to local resources, and also provide some basic education about what autism is and how to work with their child at home.”
