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Spotlight
Act Early Ambassador for CT Selected
Tierney Giannotti has been selected to serve as an Act
Early Ambassador for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program.
Tierney will play an important role in educating Connecticut’s parents, healthcare professionals,
and early educators about early childhood development, warning signs of autism
and other developmental disabilities, and the importance of acting early on concerns
about a child’s development.
Read more...
- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) - providing information and resources for healthcare providers
- Autism: Be a Family's Champion, Learn the Signs
- Autism Research: Read What CDC is Doing to Understand Autism
- What We've Learned about Autism Spectrum Disorder
- A Minute of Health with CDC - Autism Awareness
- A Cup of Health with CDC – Autism Awareness
- Autism Speaks - IACC April 11, 2011Meeting Summary
- USDA Cooperative Extension Service's Just in Time Parenting (JITP)
- Early Identification of ASD Module
- Autism Case Training (ACT): A Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Curriculum
- Learn the Signs Act Early
Legislative Forum on Developing Best Practices for Early Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Connecticut's Act Early Plan
Developing Best Practices Guidelines
The Act Early Connecticut Best Practices group intends to engage in the following activities toward the development of diagnostic guidelines: convene a legislative forum, develop a draft document of the proposed guidelines, disseminate the draft guidelines to an expert panel, including members of the Act Early Connecticut Team, and print and distribute the guidelines.
As a result of developing best practice guidelines for a diagnostic evaluation of ASDs that is recognized and implemented by providers, the care of children with developmental delays will be streamlined. With children more accurately diagnosed at an earlier age, access to intervention should occur in a more timely fashion.
Raising Awareness of the Need for Early Screening, Diagnosis and Intervention
The Awareness Team’s efforts have centered on disseminating the CDC "Learn the Signs, Act Early" campaign materials at conferences and through a targeted mailing campaign. Materials from the CDC on recognizing developmental delays along with Connecticut-specific information will be sent to core groups throughout the state: medical providers, licensed family day cares, and licensed group day care centers, including nursery schools.
Data provided by the State Department of Heath indicates that there are
2,687 Family Day Cares and 1,589 Group Day Cares, for a total of 4,276
facilities. This represents a total of 113,734 children potentially being
served with information on early identification of developmental delays in
Connecticut. Data on whether additional material is requested will help to
determine the effectiveness of the process and indicate whether further
targeted mailing should be implemented. With children accurately identified
as potentially at risk, access to early intervention might decrease the long
term effects of any delays.