AUTISM NAVIGATOR, LLC
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

Autism Navigator increases the capacity of healthcare and early intervention providers, educators, and families to improve outcomes of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism Navigator is a unique collection of web-based tools and courses developed to bridge the gap between science and community practice. We have integrated the most current research into a highly interactive web platform with extensive video footage to illustrate effective evidence-based practice. The video clips come from the unparalleled library of video footage from federally funded research projects at the Autism Institute at Florida State University. Early diagnosis and intervention has lifetime consequences for children with ASD and their families. By interfacing professional courses for primary care physicians and early intervention providers with information and support for families and communities using technology-supported learning, Autism Navigator can create an integrated, effective, cost-efficient, community-viable system of service delivery for children with ASD and their families. Autism Navigator was created by faculty and staff in the Autism Institute at the Florida State University College of Medicine. The FIRST WORDS® Project and the Early Social Interaction Project (ESI) contributed to the content of Autism Navigator. How can you help make a difference? Good communication development starts in the first year of life and goes far beyond learning how to talk. Communication development has its roots in social interaction with parents and other caregivers during everyday activities. Your child’s growth in social communication is important because it helps your child connect with you, learn language and play concepts, and sets the stage for learning to read and future success in school. Good communication skills are the best tool to prevent behavior problems and make it easier to handle moments of frustration that all infants and toddlers face. Key social communication milestones develop between 9 and 16 months and they provide the foundation needed to launch language and learning: If these early social communication milestones are not solidly in place, it is likely that a child will be delayed in learning to talk. It is important to keep in mind that delays in these social communication milestones may indicate risk for developmental delays, including autism. By detecting small gaps in early social communication skills, you can get extra help to support your child’s development before significant delays are evident. The 16 by 16™ series is designed to help families and others learn the critical social communication skills that children should reach by 16 months in order to launch language learning, literacy, and much more by 24 months. To present the 16 by 16 series, we are developing a collection of online lookbooks to illustrate with photographs each of the critical skills. Our first lookbook, 16 Gestures by 16 Months, was released in 2015. We will release four additional lookbooks as they become available: We hope this series will provide a roadmap for you to support your child’s early development and celebrate these important small steps your child is making. This information can also help you notice small delays early in order to prevent bigger delays later. Some children who are late in communicating outgrow delays, but others need extra help to reach their potential. This can give all children an edge before preschool to better prepare for success in Kindergarten. The Autism Navigator® is linked with a tiered system of online courses, tools, and resources to support families. Families are first invited for universal screening with the Smart Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders (ESAC) beginning at 9 months of age and to join a parent portal. This portal posts the screening report and sends invitations to the tiered system of supports for families based on the child’s screening outcome. Families are invited to be re-screened every 3 to 6 months until 30 months of age. Following are the tiered supports for families: —the 16 by 16™ Lookbook series helps families and others learn critical social communication skills that children should reach by 16 months to help their child learn to talk. Did you know that all children should have 16 gestures by 16 months? The 16 by 16™ series is a public awareness campaign designed to help families and others learn critical social communication skills that children should reach by 16 months in order to launch language learning, literacy, and much more by 24 months. This series of online Lookbooks illustrate with photographs each of the critical skills to provide a roadmap for families to monitor their child’s early development and celebrate these important small steps their child is making. This information can help families notice small delays early in order to prevent bigger delays later and give all children an edge before preschool to better prepare for success in Kindergarten. Most parents and professionals are familiar with early motor milestones— when infants learn to hold their head up, turn over, sit up, crawl, and walk. However, few parents or professionals know the key milestones of social, communication, and language development. Yet these milestones offer a critical window into an infant’s well being and are the earliest signs of healthy development and school readiness. These Growth Charts are available free to families who have been invited by their doctor or health care provider. Parents can explore our side-by-side video player to see video clips illustrating 80 social communication milestones that develop from 9 to 24 months of age in 5 different domains. They can watch the clips again with narration to see how they can support their child’s development. Parents can chart their child’s development and celebrate these early critical steps as they watch their children grow. The Growth Charts offer an unparalleled video library of hundreds of video clips of typically developing infants and toddlers interacting with their family in everyday activities. This information will help parents be better equipped to monitor their child’s development and share and express concerns with their primary care physician if their child has not yet met expected developmental milestones.