Autism Support Network Society

The Autism Support Network Society (https://www.autismsupportbc.ca/) is a grassroots organization, run by parents of autistic children. Through our website, online presentations, in person parent meetings and one-on-one contacts, we educate and help empower families to set up research-based behaviour intervention programs for their autistic children; with the intention to help the child reach full potential and have quality life experiences in the community. All of our services are FREE. Quality behaviour intervention can allow autistics to be successful in schools, daycares, and at home. We educate parents and professionals through presentations, meetings, and one-on-one interactions.

In addition to our support in English, we recently hired staff to provide culturally appropriate support in Farsi, Mandarin, and Punjabi. We have found that many immigrant and refugee parents are not comfortable attending presentations for cultural reasons. Also, we discovered that immigrant families are vulnerable to inadequate or improper services because they are fearful of standing up for their child’s rights. As a result of these findings, we have arranged our staff to provide more intensive one-on-one support, which in turn, gains parental trust and empowers these marginalized parents to advocate for their child. This has put a greater demand on our free services.