Autism Delaware’s Daphne Carnright, Interim Director of Family Services, Tomara Williams, Kent and Suxex County Family Navigator, and Ivanka Carbajal, Bilingual Family Navigator, discussed their Family Navigator Services as we continue our series on the 44 days of Autism Acceptance and Inclusion.
Their skilled team works with families to help them connect with programs and opportunities for their children, from completing applications to understanding services and therapies. They offer help with accessing state programs and support, such as Respite, Medicaid and other state programs, assistance with educational questions and support in IEP meetings, as well as general information about autism and support and resources within the community. There is no cost to the family receiving services.
They also discussed the Autism Care Team (ACT) Program, a concentrated program offered through SSI and Medicaid referral, and intensive program that helps families develop a plan which includes needed services and supports, such as early intervention,
therapies, specialty care, respite care, and others, help in making informed decisions about services and helping to coordinate care among providers and agencies. While many families rely on the Delaware Public Schools for programming, they are often left adrift when their child graduates and moves away from those services. We talked about the stress and confusion many families feel when receiving an autism diagnosis and the extra burden it places on families who do not use English as their first language. Ivanka spoke about the bonds her families formed during COVID, continuing their support groups by phone and by Zoom to share information and life skills.
For more information about Autism delaware programming and services go to autismdelaware.org