SERVICES AND SUPPORTS NLHS
Susanne O’Neill & Ashley Butt
Sept 27, 2025
Autism Conference
AGENDA
Intake Process
Services and supports
Questions
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Direct Home Services Program and Autism Services
https://cwhp.easternhealth.ca/children-and-youth/child-development/direct-home-services-program/
The Direct Home Services Program (DHSP) is a family-centred, home-based early intervention program for children who are at risk of having, or who have, a developmental delay, available at any point between birth and the beginning of school.
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Autism Services is part of DHSP. Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be eligible for intervention up to the beginning of grade four (4)
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INTAKE PROCESS
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Autism Services Referrals
Intake process
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IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
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Services from Autism Services are based on the science of Applied Behaviour Anaysis and utilize Evidence Based Practices (EBP)
OUR PROGRAM
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WHAT IS ABA?
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is the science of behaviour and learning that seeks to understand why people do what they do. It looks at how learning and behavior are influenced by what’s happening around us and uses this knowledge to teach helpful skills and reduce challenging behaviors in a positive, supportive way.
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WHAT ARE EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES?
Many interventions exist for autism. Yet, scientific research has found only some of these interventions to be effective. The interventions that researchers have shown to be effective are called evidence-based practices (EBPs). One reason for using EBPs is because, by law, teaching practices must be based on evidence of effectiveness.
Services fall under three models:
AVAILABLE SERVICES
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All services are VOLUNTARY!
WHAT IS PARENT IMPLEMENTED INTERVENTION (PI)?
It is a parent coaching model that utilizes strategies based on ABA to teach parents to help their children learn new skills, reduce unhelpful behaviors, and improve quality of life.
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... but it can be expected that every intervention will involve caregiver coaching from the CMS to support the family in working towards identified goals
CMS will work with caregiver to choose and complete assessments
Goals are identified with the caregiver based on assessments, caregiver input, and team consultations
CMS will regularly meet with the family, coaching the caregiver to implement ABA strategies to target goals
Can be completed in-person or virtually
WHAT DOES PI INVOLVE?
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Individualized....
PI HAS MULTIPLE OPTIONS
Can be completely designed by working with the parent
or
have some manualized/packaged options
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RUBI PARENT TRAINING
Core Sessions
Understanding behaviour
Prevention strategies
Daily schedules
Reinforcement
Mindful attending
Effective instructions
Functional communication
Building new skills
Generalization and Maintenance
Supplemental Sessions
Token economy
Imitation skills
Time out
Sleep
Feeding
Toilet training
Crisis management
WHAT DOES RUBI PARENT TRAINING INVOLVE?
Differs from PI as this is a manualized plan
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Practical Functional Analysis-Skills Based Treatment (PFA-SBT) “My way” program
Practical Functional Assessment (PFA) and Skill-Based Treatment (SBT) are powerful assessment and intervention strategies designed to support children, youth and adults who experience challenging behaviour in their daily lives. At the heart of SBT is a trauma-informed perspective, recognizing that past experiences may impact behavior.
This approach emphasizes the importance of treating clients with respect, ensuring their safety, and building strong, trusting relationships. Through SBT, children learn essential life skills, such as communication, tolerating disappointment, following directions, and adapting to unexpected challenges
Typically 2-3 sessions a week
Range from 3-12 months
WHAT DOES PFA-SBT INVOLVE?
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WHAT IS HOME THERAPY (HT)?
ABA Home Therapy (ABA HT) in Newfoundland and Labrador is an intensive home-based early intervention program offered to young children (up to grade 4 entry) with a diagnosis of autism. In other regions it is often otherwise known as Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI). ABA HT or EIBI is a therapy based on ABA, which focuses on understanding and improving behavior. ABA helps children learn new skills by breaking tasks into small, manageable steps and reinforcing progress. The goal is to teach positive behaviors while respecting each child’s unique needs and strengths.
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What does ABA HT involve?
An intervention that targets the foundations of social communication (joint attention, engagement, and play) and uses naturalistic developmental and behavioral strategies to increase the rate and complexity of social communication. Interventionists assess the child to identify developmentally appropriate social communication and play level targets and then select motivating toys that match the child’s skill level. They then use play routines, or collections of play steps that the adult and child take turns going through together, to engage the child and work on these targets. In JASPER, the interventionist focuses on helping the child initiate new ideas to share with others.
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Joint Attention Symbolic Play Engagement and Regulation
JASPER
WHAT DOES JASPER INVOLVE?
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JASPER Caregiver Coaching
Social Communication
Play
Engagement
Regulation
JASPER TARGETS
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THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
QUESTIONS?
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Resources
https://www.kasarilab.org/intervention
https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/afirm-modules/
https://www.rubinetwork.org/
https://practicalfunctionalassessment.com
https://afirm-modules.fpg.unc.edu/Selecting-EBP/content/#/lessons/TGdz2LmGUTG-Y86qzWR0lzDAMcXb6WZ_