A Circle of Support is in operation to provide a community residential treatment program to serve the needs of autistic and developmentally disordered children, aged 4 and older in a family-like setting in the areas of Metro Toronto and more recently, in the neighbouring community of York Region. Each house can accommodate up to seven children, male and female, and operates on a 24 hour basis, 7 days a week. In some situations, we have also been able to offer short term respite care.

While the children attend community schools or day treatment for their formal education, A Circle of Support supplements their formal education by teaching functional life skills — the goal being to enable these children to live as independently as possible as they grow older — so that they may contribute meaningfully to the community as adults.

Autism is a perplexing, not easily understood disorder. Over the years, we have operated on the notion that a highly structured, predictable environment is vital to the success of a program which serves the needs of this population. The skilled, trained child and youth workers implement individual program plans designed for each resident to further the child's development in:

A Circle of Support engages in active liaison with the family and with the school partners to maximize the success of our residents. We cannot overemphasize the importance we place on providing family support because of our strong desire to preserve the relationship. Beyond the program designed for the child in care, the additional training and support to the family allows for a real possibility that the child may eventually return to the family home. To this end, we have also provided respite care in certain situations as an alternative to long term care; to take the edge off a family in crisis.

We also strongly believe that partnering with the school promotes a better opportunity for the child to generalize his/her skills to other environments — an important issue for individuals with autism and related disorders.