Autism Intervention for Preschoolers
St. John’s Mercy Child Development Center offers a community-based intervention program for children 18 months to 42 months with autism spectrum disorders. The program is
held in a preschool classroom within the St. John’s
Mercy Child Care Center on the northeast corner of
the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center campus.
The autism program enrolls children with a medical diagnosis
of autism spectrum or pervasive developmental
disorders. This will
complement other services provided by the Missouri
First Steps Early Intervention program and other providers.
Classes meet three days per week for three
hours per day, for 12-week sessions.
The program uses the approaches described by the National
Research Council Committee on Educational Interventions
for Children with Autism including inclusion of
typically developing children to serve as peer models. The class is staffed by an early childhood teacher with ASD experience, a classroom aide, a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA), a speech and language therapist with relationship development intervention (RDI) training, an occupational therapist and a physical therapist. A dietician is available for consultation.
For more information or to schedule your child for classes, please contact Laural Sosa of the St. John’s Mercy’s Child Development Center at 314-872-3345.
