Parent+Support+Groups+&+Advocacy+Resourcess

Welcome visitors! The purpose of this page is to provide support and advocacy information to parents, as well as other family members or professionals about the Autism Spectrum disorders. Advocacy is a very important factor in ensuring services in the public school system if you have a child diagnosed with special needs. Parents have to be able to make informative decisions about their child's education and what their child will need in order to succeed in school, because parents can be the best advocates for their children. Support groups are also very useful to families. Websites or meetings can help families learn from other families in similar situations, and they help parents understand that they are not alone in their struggle, that there are other families that are going through similar situations. My hope is that at least some of these resources prove to be helpful .

__Support Groups__
**Autism Society Support Groups in Maine** __[|http://www.asmonline.org/support_groups.asp]__ This website is really great because it contains a lot of support groups for families who have children on the Autism Spectrum all around Maine that meet in person on a weekly or monthly basis. There are some that are run by individuals, and there are some that are run by organizations. While most of the support groups are for families, there are also some listed that are for the individuals that are on the Autism Spectrum.

**Autism Online Support Groups** [] This website is an online support group for families of children on the spectrum. Parents can start discussions on various topics, sharing stories, getting advice from other parents, etc. It also has some videos that go in depth about Autism, alternate treatments, possible causes, etc.

**GEAR Parent Network** [] This is another wonderful website, easily a favorite. It offers support for families of children with disabilities, and has a wide range of resources for families. These include workshops, programs, online resources that include advocacy and legal support, and parent support groups.

__Be an Advocate__
 [] There are many resources available on this website that serve as informational supports for families. It provides documents that have details about the different age stages and what supports are available for each age range.
 * Southern Maine Parent Awareness**

[] This is an incredibly useful website for anyone living in Maine! It is a government website that provides detailed information about the rights of children with disabilities, IDEA, Maine state law and regulations, Medicaid, and even training.
 * Department of Education Maine Special Services**

[] This website is an important one. Parents can use these guidelines to get an impression as to where their child is developmentally, and it gives parents a base to use as a comparison to their child, especially if the family is noticing some possible delays in certain areas of development.
 * Maine Early Learning Guidelines & Infant and Toddler Learning Guidelines**