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Thursday, May 7, 2009
Northwest Hall (Chicago Hilton)
3:30 PM
Background: For 35 years, Autism Ontario has provided support to parents of children with an ASD, promoted public awareness of ASD, supported and promoted ASD research, and worked with government leaders. The Realize Community Potential (RCP) Program was developed to directly support parents of children with ASD through: greater access to information, direct contact between parents and Autism Ontario chapters, improved access to experts in local communities, and increased community-based learning opportunities for children with ASD. The RCP program started as a pilot program in 6 different communities with existing Autism Ontario chapters. As part of the RCP program, Autism Ontario created a team of professionals and researchers in the field of ASD to serve as the Knowledge program evaluation team.
Objectives: Major goals of this evaluation are to determine the ability of the RCP program (1) to help to reduce stress in families of children with an ASD, (2) to provide long-term support and resources for families, and (3) to help build capacity within local chapters to support families.
Methods: A central online database was created for RCP coordinators to monitor contact with parents and families, including: Contact Log, Activity Feedback Form, and Short-term Stress survey. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires were administered to compare chapter activity before and after the inception of the RCP program. These surveys were also administered to four non-RCP Autism Ontario chapters matched on population density to serve as a comparison group.
Results: There was substantial increase in the number of chapter events offered since the inception of the RCP program. This increase was not found in the non-RCP chapters. A review of the Activity Feedback data on events offered through the RCP program collected thus far shows that 93% of participants (n = 495) felt that these events met or exceeded their expectations and 96% of participants reported that they would attend another event held by Autism Ontario, RCP program. Event topics of most interest to families included: behaviour, followed by social skills development, and communication. Interestingly, these are congruent with the three major diagnostic criteria for autism. These goals should be kept in mind when developing future events.
The average number of calls to RCP chapters per month has increased 2-8 fold in all but one chapter since the program started. This was not found in the non-RCP chapters.
Data from contact logs regarding the reasons why families are contacting the RCP chapters and short-term stress are currently being collected and will be discussed. It is hypothesized that contacts of a more complex nature will be more likely to show a decrease in stress than information-seeking contacts.
Conclusions: This research is important in identifying the effective components of the RCP program to guide future program development and allocation of funding resources.
Objectives: Major goals of this evaluation are to determine the ability of the RCP program (1) to help to reduce stress in families of children with an ASD, (2) to provide long-term support and resources for families, and (3) to help build capacity within local chapters to support families.
Methods: A central online database was created for RCP coordinators to monitor contact with parents and families, including: Contact Log, Activity Feedback Form, and Short-term Stress survey. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires were administered to compare chapter activity before and after the inception of the RCP program. These surveys were also administered to four non-RCP Autism Ontario chapters matched on population density to serve as a comparison group.
Results: There was substantial increase in the number of chapter events offered since the inception of the RCP program. This increase was not found in the non-RCP chapters. A review of the Activity Feedback data on events offered through the RCP program collected thus far shows that 93% of participants (n = 495) felt that these events met or exceeded their expectations and 96% of participants reported that they would attend another event held by Autism Ontario, RCP program. Event topics of most interest to families included: behaviour, followed by social skills development, and communication. Interestingly, these are congruent with the three major diagnostic criteria for autism. These goals should be kept in mind when developing future events.
The average number of calls to RCP chapters per month has increased 2-8 fold in all but one chapter since the program started. This was not found in the non-RCP chapters.
Data from contact logs regarding the reasons why families are contacting the RCP chapters and short-term stress are currently being collected and will be discussed. It is hypothesized that contacts of a more complex nature will be more likely to show a decrease in stress than information-seeking contacts.