The Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment has received a $64,000 Opportunity Grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health.The grant will help support the Centers mission to provide support, tools and resources for families in the Bootheel, said Dr. Renee Patrick, director of Southeasts Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment.The funding will support the expansion of services at Southeasts Sikeston Campus Autism Center and increase services to individuals with autism in the Sikeston community, she said. The funds allow the Center to increase staffing to provide services to children under age 5, and to obtain special speech generating devices for children with minimal verbal abilities.[caption id="attachment_36404" align="alignright" width="300"]
The funds allowed Southeasts Sikeston Campus Autism Center to obtain special speech generating devices for children with minimal verbal abilities.[/caption]Additionally, the grant will help the Center address the waitlist for behavioral analytic services, speech language pathology services, counseling services, and diagnostic services.The Sikeston location helps provide services to meet a growing demand in the region for autism services without having to travel to Cape Girardeau, where the Universitys main Autism Center is located at 611 N. Fountain Street.The Sikeston facility provides early intensive intervention services through the Centers Building Blocks Program for young children ages 2-5 who have significant need for applied behavioral analytic programming; Speech Language Pathology using a push-in service for Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) communication device users; counseling services for older children experiencing social difficulties, and diagnostic evaluations for individuals seeking diagnostic clarification of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Speech language services are set to begin in the near future, said Patrick. Initial diagnostic interviews will also be available at the Sikeston location.For more information, contact the Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment at (573) 986-4985 orautismcenter@semo.edu.