Play Program Awarded NIMH Grant

The Ann Arbor, Mich., P.L.A.Y. Project, an early intervention program that uses play therapy for autistic children, has been awarded a grant of $1.85 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to fund research on play-based intervention. Medical director Richard Solomon is conducting a study slated to run for three years on the program’s model, which addresses the shortage of qualified personnel for home visits by training parents.

Photo courtesy of Andreanna (flickr.com)

P.L.A.Y. Project is a direct outgrowth of Stanley Greenspan’s DIR/Floortime philosophy that emphasizes a framework that is Developmental, Individualized and Relationship-based.  By training parents to participate in their children’s therapy, yearly costs are less than $4,000 a year, compared with other interventions that can cost $40,000 to $60,000 a year.

I’d like to see the cost of this program more heavily subsidized than it seems to be. Although P.L.A.Y. says on their website that they will help families in need and use sliding-scale fees, I have no doubt that the majority of their families are shelling out a few thousand or so a year for training, consultations and home visits — not an insignificant expense in the landscape of a typical family already burdened by costs of early 21st-century life.

•      •      •

A Missouri showing of the HBO documentary “Autism: The Musical” brought parents and educators together for an emotional event. Educators came to meet parents and hear ideas about what they could be doing when they teach. Parents came to share stories about their children and ask that they be treated with respect.

We haven’t yet seen “Autism: The Musical” but it’s on our list. Have you seen it? What did you think?

•      •      •

Tis the season for rides and walks. Mandy Jones, a North Carolina woman, is organizer of a ride in Lexington, N.C. The Ride for Autism will take place Sat., Oct. 3.  Jones is the mother of a 9-year-old boy, Sammy, who is blind and was diagnosed with autism at age 5. Money from the ride will be used to raise awareness about autism and for the organization Autism Speaks’ Walk Now for Autism.