Grant Funds Resources for Autism Kids, Families

Grant funds resources for autism kids, families

EAST BRUNSWICK- The township's library and schools will be able to better serve the local autism population, thanks to a $10,000 grant.

The grant, from the regional library cooperative Infolink, will allow the library and school district to create "welcoming spaces," as the program calls them, for children with autism and their families.

The funds will go to four primary services:• Provide resources including books, media and other materials to parents and teachers of children with autism through a Parent Lending Library, and teacher resource collections.

• Provide training to all library and school media center staff members who interact with families who seek support or information for their affected children.

• Provide referrals and educational opportunities to East Brunswick residents, in partnership with the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community, including information nights at the East Brunswick Public Library.

• Provide a monthly support group in the public library for siblings of children with autism, led by a trained leader.

East Brunswick's library is one of six organizations in New Jersey selected for the grant.

Assistant Library Director MaryEllen Firestone, who spearheaded the grant proposal, said the East Brunswick community has 133 children diagnosed on the autism spectrum.

Firestone said the Parent Lending Library to be created at the public library is needed in order to supply books, media and other resources for parents of children with autism.

The teacher resource collections, she said, will be located in the media centers at Central and Chittick elementary schools and at Hammarskjold Middle School, where children with autism are educated. These resource collections, Firestone said, will help teachers explain autism to other children, and help teachers understand the wide spectrum of this diagnosis.

Firestone said the monthly support group meetings for siblings of children with autism are needed because these siblings often have nowhere to go to explore their conflicting feelings, or to find support for the somewhat difficult role they play in the family.

Parents, along with Ellen Murphy, supervisor of autism spectrum programs at the East Brunswick Public Schools, identified the need for the support group, which will be run by a trained professional and will have an element of fun built into every session, Firestone said.

Firestone expressed gratitude to Infolink for the opportunity to better serve the autism community, noting that each part of the grant is important.

"We are delighted to enhance the library's collection to better serve our residents, and we are equally delighted to offer a much-needed service to the families

of children with autism by providing their siblings with a fun, supportive atmosphere to share their concerns and anxieties," Firestone said.

Infolink put together the "incubator project" with the hope that it can be replicated throughout the state, she said.

Saint Peter's University HospitalMedical Library, New Brunswick, received an Infolink grant as well, and will set up a new consumer health section, starting with autism resources. Staff there will work with a county association charged with focusing on autism spectrum disorder.

The other entities receiving the grant are the Children's Institute School, Verona; Scotch Plains Public Library; West Caldwell Public Library; and Edison Public Library.

From: Sentinel East Brunswick