Links

General Resources

Autism Society of Ohio :
The mission of the Autism Society of Ohio is to improve the lives of all affected by autism in Ohio. The ASO includes persons with autism, families, and professionals working together to improve services and support at the state level. A chapter of the Autism Society of America, the ASO also acts as an information clearing house to make information easily accessible and to support networking throughout the state and beyond.

Autism Society of America:
The Autism Society of America works to promote lifelong access and opportunity for individuals within the autism spectrum and their families. The Web site includes Autismsource.org, which is a nationwide online directory of ASA< chapters, professionals, government resources, diagnostic centers, and service providers.

Ohio Legal Rights Service: Client Assistance Program
The OLRS CAP also has a full spectrum of information based on diagnosis and health information.

Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities:
The Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities website has been created to support people with developmental disabilities. The website also has a link that will provide the end-user with a list regarding the most recent versions of Federal and State laws and regulations concerning children with disabilities.
(Tip: Click on the "HOW TO GET HELP" link - then click on the "I HAVE A CHILD 22 OR YOUNGER WITH A DISABILITYlink. County-level information can be accessed through the Ohio MRDD website above.)

The P.L.A.Y. Project®:
The P.L.A.Y. Project® is a community based/regional autism therapy training and early intervention program dedicated to empowering parents and professionals to implement intensive, developmental interventions (autism therapy) for young children with autism in the most effective and efficient way.

Financial Resources
Benefits.gov
The website's mission focuses on reducing the expense and difficulty of conducting business with the government and increasing access to benefit information, particularly for people with disabilities.
The site is interactive in that it asks fairly detailed questions to help identify potential eligibility for some public programs. To start, you will need to click on the "Start Here" button, then answer a series of questions to determine what programs meet your needs.

The National Autism Association of North East Ohio: Helping Hand Program:
Helping Hand Grants in Northeast Ohio are provided to qualifying families to help children with autism access-needed interventions, including speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, behavioral intervention, home programming costs, tuition assistance, respite care, marriage counseling for the parents, summer camps expenses as well as medical treatment costs, including biomedical interventions.
Grants are given to families that reside in the association's Northeast Ohio service area, i.e. in Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Lorain, Summit, Medina, and Portage counties.NAA-NEO operates autonomously from the national organization (The National Autism Association - NAA) on many levels, including its mission and grant-giving priorities.

Autism Scholarship Program:
Ohio's Autism Scholarship is a program of the Ohio Department of Education. The program allows the department to pay a scholarship to the parents of a qualified child with autism.
Through the scholarship, parents have a choice of sending their child to a special education program, other than the one operated by their child's school district, to receive the services outlined in the child's individualized education program (IEP).

Ohio Subsidy Program for parents who adopt special-needs children:
The North American Council on Adoptable Children is making citizens aware of subsidies available in every state that are designed to help adoptive families in need of special services. These subsidies act as safety nets to stabilize and support families when other resources available to them just aren't enough.

Other Resources
American Stroke Association

American Heart Association

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

Autism Speaks

Medical News Today (latest news iin autism research)

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

Ohio Coalition for Education of Children with Disabilities

Ohio Legal Rights Service: Client Assistance Program - The OLRS also has a full spectrum of
information based on diagnosis and health information.

Ohio Department of Education: Learning Supports

Speaking of Speech

Wright’s Law: The Special Ed Advocate

Fun Resources
Hiyah: Free Software