Navigation Guide

 

We believe that families who have loved ones with autism spectrum disorders

need to a roadmap to help them navigate services, so they can find answers

as quickly and easily as possible. How can you help? Read about the

2009 Sponsor a Family Campaign

 

 

Navigating Autism Services: A Resource Guide for Missouri

 

Families often say that they are not given enough direction after a family member is diagnosed with autism. Many families find services later in their journey that they wish they had known about right away. The purpose of this Navigation Guide is to help ease the journey by providing basic information about autism, resources, and services for people of all ages with autism in Missouri. We hope this Guide will give you a place to start your journey.

 

What is special about this guide?

While there are other guides that explain autism diagnosis and intervention, there are no guides that are specific to Missouri resources. The Missouri Blue Ribbon Panel on Autism noted this problem in 2007 and recommended that toll-free numbers be made available to families so that they could explore services more easily. We created this guide so that families would have a better idea of where to start in Missouri, how the Missouri service system works, and other valuable sources of information and services.

 

History of the Navigation Guide

The Missouri Autism Resource Guide was published in 1998 by the Missouri Departments of Mental Health (DMH), Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 2008, a workgroup of autism-related agencies and organizations gathered to discuss updates to the existing resource guide. The workgroup noted that several autism resource directories were now available in Missouri but expressed the need for a Navigation Guide to help people understand the services available for people with autism in Missouri, how to access these services, and where to start.

 

Reprint Information

This Guide may only be reprinted or photocopied in its original form. No content may be altered without the permission of the Missouri Office of Autism Services.