Team Chinisa Innukshopa [from the Choctaw (USA First Nation) language for "he fears the striped one"] seeks to offer an insider voice for the Autism Spectrum. Its "star website" « https://www.chinisainnukshopa.com/ » has been written to provide a more optimistic perspective to the autism community. While the team knows better than to belittle the issues with which caregivers and other service providers are burdened (after all, many of us have been dragged through the trenches with them), we'd like to think we're advocating for the light at the end of the tunnel (keeping our fingers crossed, of course, that we don't hear a train whistle).

Science does not yet have all the answers about the causes & treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder but it has helped identify proven treatments. The field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has identified a number of specific treatment techniques that consistently show positive results. We have had great success in helping children and adolescents achieve independent functioning by following and building on this approach. We know that a somewhat accelerated rate of treatment intensity is needed because we’re trying to help individuals with developmental delays learn at a faster-than- normal rate. That’s really the only way for them to catch up to their typically developing peers. In terms of measurements, it means we’d like to see individuals with delays achieve more than one month’s growth for every month spent in treatment.