Our Mission, Approach & Goals

To improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students on the autism spectrum in Montgomery County, MD.

We call ourselves a Partnership because educational success for our extraordinary students is only achievable by “partnering” with many people: families, educators, school administrators, professional service-providers, self-advocates, and students themselves.

• Families – We empower parents to be effective advocates, and we foster a community of parents with similar educational concerns.
• Educators – We provide MCPS educators with resources and trainings that will help them better support autistic students in their classrooms.
• MCPS policy makers – We identify systemic problems faced by autistic students and collaborate with administrators to resolve them.
• Professional Service Providers – (e.g., therapists, psychiatrists, educational consultants, etc) We rely on professional experts to help us provide our members with the most reliable, current, evidence-based information concerning services for our students.
• Self-Advocates – We rely on autistic adults (“self-advocates”) to provide their unique insights into our children’s experiences, since they are the real experts on autism.
• Autistic students – We promote our students’ success by providing opportunities to socialize, to learn self-advocacy and other life skills, and to hear about the experience of older autistic individuals.

• Informing parents about services, programs, and accommodations available in MCPS
• Providing resources and advocacy assistance to help parents successfully navigate the IEP process
• Disseminating resources to parents about evidence-based approaches for promoting academic success (e.g. executive function or behavior strategies)
• Providing opportunities for families to learn from older “self-advocates” speaking about their experiences on the autism spectrum
• Providing opportunities for families to network, exchange ideas, find support, and share their stories

• Funding special education trainings and purchases of curricular materials that help educators better support the autistic students in their classrooms
• Disseminating to educators, through our website, publications, and speakers, best practices and evidence-based education strategies, which address the challenges of autism
• Identifying systemic problems faced by autistic students in MCPS
• Collaborating with MCPS administrators to find solutions to systemic problems
• Advocating for the interests of autistic students when MCPS policy changes are being considered
• Promoting acceptance and fostering understanding of autistic students’ strengths and challenges within MCPS

• Providing workshops to teach autistic students how to advocate for themselves
• Providing workshops for autistic students to learn specific life skills that they will not learn in school (e.g. safe interactions with police)
• Facilitating autistic students’ completion of Student Service Learning requirements
• Promoting acceptance and fostering understanding of autistic students’ strengths and challenges among non-autistic students
• Providing opportunities for autistic students to meet and socialize with peers and with older autistic individuals