Our mission is to provide resources and continuing education trainings that promote the use of strengths-based, ethical, neurodiversity-affirming practices for professionals (including OTs, SLPs, social workers, and psychologists) working with Autistic people.

Starting on November 1st, we’ll release one pre-recorded 20-minute interview a day for two weeks. And if you get behind, you’ll have access on-demand for the full month of November. Your presenters are some of the strongest voices in neurodiversity-affirming practice in the fields of occupational therapy, speech therapy, medicine, and more. If you want strategies to help your Autistic child thrive as their most authentic self, settle in. The LPT Parent & Caregiver Summit is where you belong.

Autism Awareness? Autism Appreciation? Autism Acceptance? None of these are a particularly high bar, but it is true that some people do, indeed, need real awareness while others need a better understanding of how to truly accept and appreciate. Still, others need goals beyond these. Hence, Autism Level UP! Wherever you are, take the next step! We aim to meet people wherever they are in their journey and help them continue forward. From real awareness all the way through empowerment and advocacy. Come level UP! with us. You’re welcome here no matter where you are starting. A great first step is to read about the levels below and decide honestly where you are.

On this website you will find lots of useful content and communication resources–including tons of free downloads–that you can start using today to help inspire your child’s communication to grow. Even if your child is not talking yet, they have something important to say. Every child deserves a voice and every parent deserves an opportunity to hear it.

A well known OT who promotes strength based therapy along with assisting parents with practical information to parent their child with developing growth in mind.

“Strangely, when we talk about sensory problems, anxiety is rarely part of that conversation. The focus is always on the sensory part of SPD. But I would like to shed some light on the chaos that anxiety can cause when it’s teamed up with SPD, and why it’s different than non-sensory anxiety.”

We chose play is a series documenting one family’s Floortime journey. With each episode, you’ll glean insights, tips, and reflections–what they learned and what they know now that they would tell themselves back then, along the way.

A twice-monthly podcast where they explore research, amplify autistic voices, and change the way we think about autism in life and in professional therapy practice.

AAC experts Rachel Madel and Chris Bugaj dive into a weekly discussion about all things AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Every episode they deliver practical resources, clinical guidelines and relevant research to help clinicians better utilize technology for children with complex communication needs.

Autism Alliance of Michigan was founded with the vision that people with autism will lead lives that meet their greatest potential. We lead efforts to raise expectations and expand opportunities for people touched by autism across the lifespan.

We create connections, empowering. Everyone in the autism community. With the resources needed to live fully.

The P.L.A.Y. Project : Evidence-based, intensive, autism early intervention training for professionals and parents. Our research shows that The PLAY Project’s professional training program, through parent coaching, leads to improved social and functional outcomes for children on the spectrum, children with red flags for autism, and other neurodivergent children.

Damian (2012) On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’. Disability & Society, 27 (6). pp. 883-887. ISSN 0968-7599. (doi:10.1080/09687599.2012.710008) (KAR id:62639)

Summary of Research

Sandbank M, Pustejovsky JE, Bottema-Beutel K, Caldwell N, Feldman JI, Crowley LaPoint S, Woynaroski T. Determining Associations Between Intervention Amount and Outcomes for Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2024 Aug 1;178(8):763-773. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.1832. PMID: 38913359; PMCID: PMC11197026.

Summary of Research

Murray, D., Lesser, M., & Lawson, W. (2005). Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism. Autism, 9(2), 139-156. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361305051398

Summary of Research

Leadbitter K, Buckle KL, Ellis C, Dekker M. Autistic Self-Advocacy and the Neurodiversity Movement: Implications for Autism Early Intervention Research and Practice. Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 12;12:635690. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.635690. PMID: 33912110; PMCID: PMC8075160.

Patten KK, Murthi K, Onwumere DD, Skaletski EC, Little LM, Tomchek SD. Occupational Therapy Practice Guidelines for Autistic People Across the Lifespan. Am J Occup Ther. 2024 May 1;78(3):7803397010. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2024.078301. PMID: 38758762.