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Tools You Can Use
Since its inception the ATN has been about helping parents and professionals to manage the wide range of health related concerns that are commonly associated with autism spectrum disorders.
One of our strategies was to develop tools and toolkits directed to specific issues. Our efforts were bolstered by our grant from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to operate as the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P) in an effort to increase resources targeted to autism spectrum disorders.
In addition, Autism Speaks’ Family Services makes available many tools for families. Click here to visit their Tool Kits page.
Dental Professional's Tool Kit
Many children experience a great deal of anxiety when visiting the dental practitioner’s office, especially those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this guide designed for dental professionals, we discuss ways to help reduce children’s anxiety levels and increase compliance. It provides general and specific information that may help dental professionals better serve the needs of children with ASD. Click here for more information and to download the tool kit.
Many children with ASD have difficulty with sleep. This can be stressful for children and their families. This informational tool kit is designed to provide parents with strategies to improve sleep in their child affected by autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The suggestions in this tool kitare based on both research and clinical experience of sleep experts. Click here for more information and to download the tool kit.
Visual Supports and Autism Spectrum Disorder
The Visual Supports and Autism Spectrum Disorder tool kit provides a step-by-step, easy-to-understand introduction to visual supports and the ways that parents and other caregivers can begin using them. The pamphlet provides practical examples of how to begin integrating visual supports into a child’s daily routines. The tool kit provides actual visual supports for parents to print, cut out and use, along with links to resources that provide more detailed information for those who want to go further. Click here for more information and to download the tool kit.
Though many children with autism may benefit from medications that ease challenging behaviors, families often struggle with making the decision of whether medication use is right for their child. This tool kit is designed to help you clarify your values and goals and then talk with your healthcare provider about the options, benefits, and possible downsides of medications. It can be used at any point in your decision-making process, including the re-evaluation of medications your child is now taking. Click here for more information and to download the tool kit.
Blood Draw Tool Kits
Sometimes a child with ASD has had a negative experience during a doctor’s visit that has left him or her feeling anxious. The prospect of having their child’s blood drawn may make parentsanxious as well, preventing them from seeking needed tests and treatments. The Blood Draw Tool Kits, have been prepared in two versions — one for parents and one for providers. These tool kits present a variety of tools to help parents, their children and health care providers meet the unique needs of each child, ensuring a more productive, less stressful office visit. Click here for more information and to download the Blood Draw Tool Kits.
Tools available soon:
| Content Areas / Tools | Target Audience |
| Connecting with the right care | |
| • Autism Navigator toolkit | Families |
| Behavior Management | |
| • Behavior Management Basics | Families |
| • Applied Behavior Analysis | Families |
| Medication Management | |
| • Psychotropic Medication in Children with ASD: Family FAQs | Families |
| Tools for day-to-day living | |
| • Toileting | Families |
| • Feeding/diet | Families |
| Healthcare visits | |
| • Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) | Families |
| Sleep Management Video | Providers / Families |
Talking to Your Doctor about Medical Concerns - revised update coming soon!
Transition from Pediatric to Adult Services - revised update coming soon!
We will start posting these tools in the very near future, so check back with us soon.
These materials are the product of on-going activities of the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network, a funded program of Autism Speaks. It is supported by cooperative agreement UA3 MC 11054 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Research Program to the Massachusetts General Hospital. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the MCHB, HRSA, HHS.
Find more Autism Speaks Tool Kits, from our Family Services team, here.
