Special Needs

The links below are to sites that provide important information for parents and professionals who live or work with individuals who have special needs. We've placed new additions to the site at the top of the page, the rest are arranged alphabetically. Please scroll down and look around; there's a lot of great links here.

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NEW!

Center for Autism and Related Disorders (University of Miami & Nova Southeastern University). The center is a comprehensive outreach and support program serving people with autism and related disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work with them in southeastern Florida.
TalkAutism. Knowledge, Information and assistance for the autism community.
Autism Speaks. Contains a variety of helpful information for the autism community.
Autism Fact Sheet. Excellent information about autism from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders). Comprehensive information from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Consumer Guidelines for Identifying, Selecting, and Evaluating Behavior Analysts Working with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Excellent guidelines for finding the proper person(s) to work with individuals on the autism spectrum by the Association for Behavior Analysis - International.

OLDIES BUT GOODIES!

Critically Evaluating the Effectiveness of Treatments: Internet Search Tips for Consumers. Helpful hints for evaluating the often contradictory claims on the internet.
American Association on Mental Retardation. This is the web site designed to augments AAMR's mission to advance the knowledge and skills of professionals in the field of mental retardation by exchanging information and ideas.
Association of University Centers on Disabilities. This site contains information about and links to university-based research and training sites related to developmental disabilities.
Association for Science in Autism Treatment. This organization is committed to science as the most objective, time-tested, and reliable approach to discerning between safe, effective, autism treatments, and those that are harmful or ineffective.
Autism. An electronic booklet provided by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Autism Research Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Visit here for information about manuals, books, and other training opportunities.
Autism Society of America. This is an excellent site that contains a great deal of information. If you don't have the time to browse through it, make use of its search capabilities.
Clinical Practice Guideline. This site contains the full Clinical Practice Guideline, Report of the Recommendations, Autism / Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Assessment and Intervention for Young Children (Age 0-3 Years) sponsored by the New York Department of Health Early Intervention Program.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center for Mental Retardation. This site contains a great deal of useful information for both parents and professionals.
An Experimental Analysis of Facilitated Communication by Barbara B. Montee, Raymond G. Miltenberger and David Wittrock. This paper scientifically tests the claims of facilitated communicated.
Facilitated Communication: Mental Miracle or Sleight of Hand? by Gina Green. An outstanding paper critically examining Facilitated Communication.
Families for Effective Autism Treatment of Washington. This site contains information to assist children with autism and related developmental disorders to have the opportunity to reach their full potential through effective behavioral intervention programs.
A History of Facilitated Communication: Science, Pseudoscience, and Antiscience: Science Working Group on Facilitated Communication by John W. Jacobson. An exhaustive and critical review of facilitated communication. A long paper but well worth the effort.
On-Line Asperger's Syndrome Information and Support. This site contains a wealth of information about Asperger's Syndrome and related disorders.
Psych-DD Listserv and Archives. This is an electronic list providing an opportunity for psychologists and allied professionals to share ideas encompassing the area of developmental disabilities. You can also search and view previous posts to the list.