Little Friends Center for Autism
Service for Families

To help navigate the sometimes overwhelming job of raising a child with autism, the Little Friends Center for Autism offers training and consultation services for families. Our goal is to help parents by empowering them with knowledge and resources. 

Range of Concerns

Based upon our experience, the range of concerns that parents have can be quite broad, such as:

• "How do I address negative or aggressive behaviors at home or in public settings?"
• "How can I help my child do more in our community?"
• "My child doesn't seem to be getting what he needs at school (or day program). What can I do?"
• "How can I teach my child basic living skills like toileting, bathing, dressing and feeding herself?"
• "What is Lovaas, ABA, Discrete Trial, RDI and TEACCH? How do I know which one my child should be receiving?"
• "Are there other options we should be considering?"

Your questions may be different, but your frustration and concern is probably the same.

Consultation Services

The Little Friends Center for Autism can serve as a resource to address all of your questions. Experienced staff and consultants are available to assist you in many areas. Depending on your need, our consultants can:

• Meet with parents to discuss their concerns, answer questions, and assist them with action plans
• Meet with the parents and child to develop a plan to address behaviors and communication strategies for home and school
• Create personalized visual training systems to assist parents and teachers in teaching particular skills
• Attend IEP's, school meetings or agency meetings to collaborate in developing and implementing effective strategies and goals 
• Support partnerships between the parents and school to develop a successful team
• Offer resources and referrals for respite, training, therapy, doctors, etc. 

Training

The LFCA also offers training specifically designed for parents of children with autism.

Individualized Parent Training

Individualized training is available on a variety of subjects, such as:

• Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PEC's)
• Discrete Trial
• ABA
• Creating Visual Systems
• Teaching Life Skills 

Individualized training takes place in your home or at the Center, and is designed around the particular needs of your child and family. The fee for individual training is $80 per hour.

Group training

The LFCA periodically offers parent training workshops on a variety of subjects. Workshops are generally conducted either at the Little Friends Center for Autism in Naperville, or at our Life Skills Training Center in Glen Ellyn. Parent groups may also hire the LFCA to provide training at their location.

Examples of parent training workshops include:

• Toilet Training
• Teaching Life Skills
• Visual Teaching Strategies
• Functions of Behavior
• Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Transitioning to Early Childhood

Training Calendar 

Click here to visit our calendar of upcoming trainings. To inquire about a particular training or suggest a new training topic, call the LFCA at (630) 305-6039 or e-mail Dinah Kotthoff.

Support Groups and Counseling

For more information about Support Groups and Counseling Opportunities, please contact the Little Friends Center for Autism at (630) 305-6039.

Geographic Area Served

The LFCA serves communities throughout the state of Illinois.

Getting Started

Whatever your particular need or concern, a no cost, no obligation phone interview will enable us to determine how we can help. Please contact us at (630) 305-6039.

For more information...

For more information, please call The Little Friends Center for Autism at (630) 305-6039, or e-mail dkotthoff@lilfriends.com.