Welcome from Your New Polk County Family Resource Specialist

Hello, I am, Evelyn Figueroa, your new Polk County Family Resource Specialist for

the USF Bay Area Early Steps program. I am excited and proud to be able to work

with the Polk County Early Steps families. I am mother of a 12 year old boy with au-

tism and language impairment. When Eddie was a toddler he was enrolled in the Ear-

ly Step Program in Puerto Rico. The Early Steps Program in Puerto Rico was a bless-

ing for me and Eddie. The experiences and services he received assisted in making

him the young man he is now.

Eddie is now a student in an inclusion set up classroom with other students. He is

involved with school sports and enjoys the interaction with his teammates. During

the last few years Eddie has been involved in Tae Kwon Do and recently received his

Black-Belt. The achievements that he has made in his life so far is a result of the early

intervention he received through the Early Steps program of Puerto Rico.

I want to personally let you know that the step you are taking today with the referral

to the Early Steps program is important for both you and your family. This newslet-

ter will assist you in finding out more about the USF Bay Area Early Steps program

and the resources available to families in the program. As a Family Resource Special-

ist, I will be able to assist enrolled families find needed resources for their child and

family. We welcome you to share your story with us so that other families can see

they are not alone on their journey through Early Steps.

Our newsletter will be sent out electronically on a quarter-

ly basis. If you wish to receive our future newsletter issues,

please forward your e-mail to us. Also, we recently joined

Facebook and Twitter. Find us on Facebook under USF

Bay Area Early Steps Program and Twitter

@BayAreaESPUSF.

Please contact me via e-mail efigueroa@health.usf.edu or

by phone at 863-413-3484 x 105. I look forward to hearing

from you.

Sincerely,

Evelyn Figueroa

Family Resource Specialist

Bay Area Early Steps

A P R I L 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

Serving Hillsborough and Polk Counties

P A G E 2 Springtime is Here!

This is the time of year when Florida weather is just beautiful! We can

finally put away our jackets and we haven’t yet entered the intense heat

and humidity of our summer. With this beautiful weather, comes many

community events and activities. I would like to take this opportunity to

showcase just a few of them in this issue of our newsletter. Please feel

free to contact me if you have any questions concerning these events or

would like to share something that you know is happening in Hills-

borough and Polk counties. I am pleased to announce that we now have

a Facebook page and a Twitter account. We are also on our way to

launching our USF Bay Area Early Steps website through the USF Health

Department. You can contact me via phone 813-974-0674 or by email

at: ademolin@health.usf.edu

With regards,

Alex DeMolina

Hillsborough County Family Resource Specialist

Reach out to us!

@BayAreaESPUSF

And Remember….

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

I would like to introduce you to a mom whose child is currently enrolled in our Early

Steps program. She has reached out to us, offered to share her story, and is providing an

extraordinary support and networking opportunity for our community.

http://www.thechildpoolers.com/

admin@thechildpoolers.com

Share Your Story

P A G E 4

It’s time

for the

16th Annual

Family Cafe

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

Upcoming Events

P A G E 6

The Center for Autism & Related Disabilities at USF is a free, community-based

project that provides information and consultation to individuals diagnosed with

autism spectrum disorders and related disabilities. CARD-USF offers instruction

and coaching to families and professionals through a training and assistance mod-

el.

Our work focuses on providing organizations, agencies, service providers and

families with the knowledge and skills to support children and adults in early in-

tervention, school, work, community, or home settings. In our work, we address

issues that impact individuals across the life span.

CARD serves children and adults of all levels of intellectual functioning who have

autism spectrum disorder; an autistic-like disability (documented on an evaluation

that describes the characteristics that are being considered "autistic-like" by the

evaluator); a dual sensory impairment; or a sensory impairment with other disa-

bilities. It is a requirement of the legislation that created CARD that we have

documentation of a qualifying diagnosis in order for an individual to receive our

services. For children aged 0 to 5 years, we may accept a developmental disability

diagnosis with documented evidence of autistic-like behaviors.

For families with children 0-3 years of age, CARD can provide support

by:

Developing and disseminating materials. Our materials are available

online and in hard copy. They provide families with guidance, strategies,

safety, and parenting tips

Developing and distributing an online newsletter two times a year.

On a monthly basis, we send our CARD Connector, an online blast with educational and informational content for folks on our mailing list. Twice a

year we send a more in depth newsletter with articles.

Maintaining an active website. Families often access the web to gather

information. Our website links to information and resources about autism

spectrum disorders and related disabilities provides a list of training

events, support groups, and other valuable information. The website is

updated on a regular basis. CARD-USF also distributes information

through our social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and a blog.

Engaging in individual consultations. CARD offers families strate-

gies or information on best practices to increase skill development

or address behavioral concerns by observing the individual, and col-

laborating with the person's team and family members to suggest appropriate services and supports. Once our staff has determined

the individual needs of a child with ASD, we may provide direct con-

sultation in a home, school or community setting.

Let’s Light it Up Blue! To Celebrate Autism Awareness Month

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

Let’s Light it Up Blue! To Celebrate Autism Awareness Month

CARD does NOT:

Provide treatment. Children with autism spectrum disorders do not receive direct treatment or

therapy from CARD-USF employees but we can refer you to professionals who can offer these

services in your area.

Diagnose. CARD-USF employees do not conduct formal assessments, evaluations, testing, or pro-

vide diagnostic services but we can refer you to professionals in your area who do offer these di-

agnostic services.

Perform crisis management. We are not a crisis management program. Our focus is on proactive

programming to prevent challenging behavior. We maintain a list of professionals who can assess

the situation, and may be able to identify professionals who can provide other forms of assistance.

Promote one intervention method or a single approach. Instead, we educate families and pro-

fessionals on evidenced based strategies that are known to have a positive impact on outcomes so

that people can determine the best course of action for the individual with ASD.

A CARD consultant may work with you by providing specific strategies and resources to meet your fami-

ly's needs. It can include any or all of the following:

phone/e-mail contacts and home-based consultation for an individual

community site visits

attending meetings

research and resource dissemination

connecting families to community supports

assistance with implementing ideas from training sessions

Direct assistance from CARD-USF may be provided to any individual constituent but will be limited to

the extent that the constituent family is involved in:

ongoing CARD-USF training or other education options through CD/video or reading materials,

a demonstration project, or

a collaborative training plan with a school or agency.

Families will be notified of activities in their local community and will be encouraged to participate if they

want to receive direct assistance from CARD-USF consultants

How to Access CARD Services

Contact: Families may contact CARD by phone or email with your questions or your interest in reg-

istering with CARD.

Intake: Once we have your contact information and the other preliminary information that you pro-

vide, your file will be forwarded to a CARD Consultant on the Early Childhood Team.

Consult: The CARD Consultant will contact you within ten business days of receiving your file to

discuss your question or concerns. Often times, a phone call will solve your issues at hand. The

CARD Consultant will give you resources or help provide you with strategies that you can imple-

ment on your own.

Contact CARD-USF by phone: (813)974-2532 or by email: card-usf@usf.edu

Early Steps Mission Early Steps is Florida's early intervention system that offers services to eligible infants and toddlers (birth

to thirty-six months) with significant delays or a condition likely to result in a developmental delay. Early

Intervention is provided to support families and caregivers in developing the competence and confidence

to help their child learn and develop.

Brings services into the child's life rather than fitting the child into services.

Maximizes each child's everyday natural learning opportunities.

Enhances each child's development and participation in community life.

Provides each child with a consistent team for evaluation and services.

Gives families options in service decisions and encourages active partnerships.

Provides a primary service provider to work with your family, other caregivers, and the team.

USF Bay Area Early Steps

Program

Division of General Pediatrics

Family Resource Specialist

13101 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.

Tampa, FL 33612

For more information call toll free: 1-866-549-1740 or contact www.centraldirectory.org

Sponsored by the State of Florida, Department of Health