Websites

Websites with Play Idea Lists for Young Children

These websites list ideas for indoor and outdoor games and crafts to play with toddlers and preschoolers. Some list additional information on topics such as health and nutrition and/or offer general parenting tips.

Picture Exchange Communication System

The Picture Exchange Communication System is a unique alternative/augmentative communication system for individuals with disabilities. There is a great deal of research supporting its efficacy in helping children with disabilities begin to initiate communication, and in supporting the development of more complex forms of communication.

www.pecs.com * – This website will familiarize you with the way PECS work, offer a variety of resources using PECs, from iPad apps, to CD-ROMs with printable symbols, as well as information workshops and training near you.

The Picture Exchange Communication System Training Manual by Lori Frost and Andrew Bondy

Websites for Ordering Educational Toys, Teaching Materials, Adaptive Materials, and Visual Tools

Web Resources

  • www.helpmegrownational.org – Help Me Grow is a system that connects at-risk children with the services they need
  • http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/ehsnrc Early Head Start provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to low-income infants and toddlers and their families, and pregnant women and their families.
  • www.easterseals.com – Easter Seals offers a huge range of information and services for children with disabilities. In particular, http://www.easterseals.com/mtffc/ “Make the First Five Count” is a program that raises awareness for children at risk for a variety of disabilities. Here you can find resources such as The Ages and Stages Questionnaire, a free online screening tool for parents to track their child’s developmental milestones.
  • www.p2pusa.org – This organization matches each parent looking for information and support with an experienced parent of a child with special needs.
  • www.siblingsupport.org – This website offers information about workshops, conferences, publications, and other opportunities for siblings of children with disabilities to become educated and connect with one another.
  • www.zerotothree.org/about-us/areas-of-expertise/free-parent-brochures-and-guides – This website includes many parenting resources including a comprehensive list of early developmental milestones and ideas for supporting and optimizing your child’s early development

Autism-Specific Web Resources

  • autismspeaks.org – this website is one of the most comprehensive resources for families including state by state information on local resources and services, and offers a 100 day kit to help families navigate the first 100 days after diagnosis, as well as providing news on current autism research and advocacy and toolkits for parents of newly diagnosed children.
  • feat.org – this website will link individuals to the Families for Effective Autism Treatment organization in their particular state, which will have information on local resources, treatment providers, and events, and in person and online support groups for parents and other ways for parents to connect and share resources
  • childrensdisabilities.info/autism/index.html – Lists support groups for parents of children with ASD
  • http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org * – ASF funds autism research and also provides useful information for parents on autism and evidence-based treatment options
  • https://www.rethinkfirst.com web-based teaching tutorials on ABA, video images of teaching interactions, and teaching objectives, available for a monthly subscription