Autism Spectrum Advocacy

September 2012

Welcome to Autism Spectrum Advocacy, and thank you for visiting our site. We have designed this site to make it reflective of the organization we have become. We hope visitors will find that the site provides them with tools to learn about our service offerings and capabilities, get to know our advocates, and contact us with any opportunities or questions; current clients will find that we have provided new and exciting information regarding our organization as well as access to helpful resources and current news that impacts children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

I founded Autism Spectrum Advocacy in 2006 to provide comprehensive special education advocacy services to families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (including Autism, Rett Syndrome, PDD-Pervasive Development Disorder, PDD-NOS, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder). It has been my pleasure to partner with families and school districts throughout Massachusetts to ensure that their children receive the comprehensive and individualized education they are entitled to. As the rate of diagnosis of ASDs continues to dramatically increase and in order to better meet the diverse and individual needs of families and their children with ASDs, I expanded my practice in 2011 to include additional advocates who are also seasoned, knowledgeable professionals who care deeply about the needs of families with ASDs and who are dedicated to focusing their professional advocacy services on assisting these families. With our diverse professional and hands-on backgrounds in education, Applied Behavioral Analysis, business, advocacy and as parents of our own children with autism, and through our mutual commitment to ongoing professional development & education, professional & personal integrity, and client service, Autism Spectrum Advocacy now offers our clients a unique group advocacy model which enables us to leverage our respective deep expertise and combine our experience, education, and strong networks of relationships with knowledgeable professionals who assist families in Massachusetts in order to provide comprehensive, compassionate advocacy services of the highest caliber to the families we serve. In doing so, we are able to meet the needs of more families in obtaining the education services and supports that are needed to help children with ASDs succeed.

At Autism Spectrum Advocacy we believe the key to developing and successfully implementing effective, individualized educational programs for children with autism is collaboration -as equals- by families and educators. We work with families to strengthen their own advocacy skills by guiding them through the education planning process, and our mission and goal is to enable families to take their rightful place as equal members of their child’s educational team. We hope you find the site a useful and effective tool. Please visit frequently for news regarding our advocacy group and to learn about current issues in advocacy, relevant news and resources for children with ASDs, and advocacy workshops and trainings we offer families.

We look forward to hearing from you in regard to how we may assist your family in obtaining an appropriate, comprehensive, individualized education for your child with an ASD. Once again, thank you for visiting Autism Spectrum Advocacy.

Sincerely,

Stephanie L. LeBlanc, Founder
Autism Spectrum Advocacy