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First Signs, Inc. is a national non-profit organization dedicated to
educating parents and pediatric professionals about the early warning signs of
autism and other developmental disorders.
Our mission is to ensure the best developmental outcome for every
child by promoting awareness regarding the most important and often
overlooked aspects of development: social, emotional, and communication.
Our goals
are to improve screening and referral practices and to lower the age
at which young children are identified with autism and other
developmental disorders.
Background
Health care providers are the only professionals who
have routine contact with all children prior to school entrance.
Although most medical providers recognize the value of early
intervention, they have significant difficulty identifying children with
developmental delays and disorders. An important reason is the
increasing time pressure placed on them to improve productivity. Often,
providers will not use developmental assessments because they require
more time for observation than allowed; others use them, but choose
measures that are not sensitive enough. Study after study show that 70%
to 80% of children in need of services are not identified by their
primary care provider. Consequently, children often miss all
opportunities for assistance during the most critical time of brain
development.
Key policy statements have been issued by the
American Academy of Neurology, American Academy of Pediatrics, and
National Research Council to define guidelines for screening and
diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.
First Signs
has created a statewide model program for disseminating key information about
early warning signs, the need for routine screening, and the
treatment options available to parents of children diagnosed. The
First Signs
program provides professionals with tools and training, and parents
with education and support, to help young children stay on a healthy
developmental path.
Audience
First Signs is focusing its efforts on the following target
audience:
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Physicians
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Pediatric nurse practitioners and physician assistants
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Clinicians
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Early childhood educators
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Childcare providers
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Family service organizations
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Parents
Program Details
The First Signs
program can be tailored to any state, based on budget,
size of population, diversity of ethnic backgrounds, established infrastructure, and availability
of services. In participating states, the program may consist of:
- Press campaign
- Public service announcements (PSAs)
- Educational mailings to any audience, including parents, medical
practitioners, clinicians, and early childhood professionals
- Training (offering continuing education credits from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)
- First
Signs Screening Kit for professionals, including educational
video, screening guidelines, screening tools, wall chart of
developmental milestones, and Early Intervention referral guide
- Web page dedicated to statewide resources on the First Signs Web
site at www.firstsigns.org
- Speaking engagements at selected pediatric conferences and Grand
Rounds
- License to use our video,
On the Spectrum:
Children and Autism at conferences, seminars, or grand rounds
within the state
- Research to evaluate how we are changing practice
Click here for answers to the most
Frequently Asked Questions
about the First Signs
program.
Web Site
The First Signs Web site is copyrighted, 2000-2007, by First Signs,
Inc. All rights reserved. If you find these materials useful, you
may download, print out, or send a copy to others so long as each
copy indicates our copyright notice and is used only for personal
use. It is expressly prohibited, however, to reprint or
electronically reproduce any text, document, graphic, video, or
visual material for bulk or commercial use. For special copyright
permissions, please write to: First Signs, Inc., P.O. Box 358,
Merrimac, MA 01860, or email us at info@firstsigns.org.
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Copy: Elinor J. Pierce
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Design: Andrée Cordella and Brian Dellascio, Cordella Design, Inc.
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Selected photography donated by:
Laura Straus, author of
A Child’s World,
Hearst Publications. All rights reserved.
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Webmaster: Brian Dellascio
Endorsements
The First Signs
program
has been endorsed by:
The organization was founded in 1998 by a parent of a child with
autism. First Signs, Inc. has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
status as a non-profit organization, and is based in Merrimac,
Massachusetts.
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