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Dr. Karen Weigle contributed the following:
“The Chattanooga Autism Center (CAC) in Chattanooga, TN is a non-profit, parent and advocate driven organization where community stakeholders identify their needs and drive development of programs. The referenced article is an example of how parents can identify needs, develop a program to address those needs, and in the process impact greater community systems. Two parents first identified the need for more extended school year programs for their children with autism, and designed a program to meet their needs through the CAC. The program, mentioned in this article and called “REACH,†is just one of many programs driven by parents to not only meet their children’s needs but also have a longer-term impact on larger systems. It describes how REACH is now impacting policy at the County school district level. Our work at the CAC overlaps with that of START programs in their design to impact individual people and also larger systems. Please read this article to see how these grassroots efforts can make a big impact.â€
Both Dr. Karen Weigle and Alyce Benson of the Center for START Services founded the CAC 8 years ago and now provide services in the outpatient clinic.
To learn more about the topic of inclusion, visit the UNH Institute on Disability’s National Center on Inclusive Education.
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