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04.13.09 | The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation pledges to support home-based autism treatment program
The Foundation recently partnered with several other philanthropic organizations in support of the Easter Seals – Goodwill program, P.L.AY.® P.L.AY. is an effective and affordable, home-based, autism treatment option for underserved families in Western and Northwestern Montana. Over the past year and a half, Easter Seals-Goodwill has utilized P.L.AY. to help change the lives of children with autism in Eastern and Southwestern MT, Idaho and Utah.
Easter-Seals GoodWill reports that results have been nothing short of amazing. P.L.AY. teaches children with autism ages 14 months through seven years of age social, communication and relationship-building skills. Working closely with parents and family members in a child’s home, educators teach parents how to implement P.L.AY. techniques in everyday interactions. P.L.AY. objective is to help children with autism complete and/or fill in missing gaps in six primary Functional Development Levels (FDLs). Children with autism often need help mastering critical social and communication skills to give them a better chance to grow up forming close loving relationships with the people who love them.
There certainly is a need for continued treatment and research of autism, of which the Foundation is proud to support. According to Easter-Seals Goodwill, one in 150 children will be diagnosed with autism. Treatment, if and when available is more often than not expensive, leaving many children untreated. Although autism is typically thought of as a disorder of childhood, its costs can be felt well into adulthood. The substantial costs resulting from adult care and lost productivity of both individuals with autism and their parents have important implications for those aging members of the baby boom generation approaching retirement.
The Foundation’s grant will specifically be used to hire, train and employ a designated P.L.AY. consultant for the Missoula area, and purchase necessary equipment for the consultant to begin to serve families.
