Thompson Center receives $1 million grant

The money will enhance the Rapid Response project.

By Belinda Kocen

Published Oct. 3, 2008

MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders received a $1 million grant.

This grant was awarded from the Combating Autism Act of 2006 funds. The money will help diagnose and treat children with autism spectrum disorder throughout the state.

Janet Farmer, director of Academic Programs at the Thompson Center, said the money is mainly going to enhance the already running Rapid Response project. This project helps families diagnose children with autism earlier in life and helps them navigate through the different medical systems.

The project focuses on children who are five years old or younger. The new grant will allow the children who are older to receive easier access to treatment as well.

"Our task is difficult because these children need medical, educational and financial help," Farmer said. "The families also tend to get lost in the system."

Susan Austin has been working at the Thompson Center for about a year and coordinates care for families who have children with autism or other developmental disorders. Her tasks will be expanding now that the grant has been awarded. Austin will work closely with other areas of the state to help provide services to those in need. The two other centers for autism, one in St. Louis and the other in Kansas City, will be working in conjunction with the Thompson Center. Austin will be traveling to both centers to help train new employees.

"We try and focus less on how the grant is going to affect the Thompson Center and more about how it is going to affect services around the state," spokesman Scott Rowson said.

With the gas prices rising, the goal for the Thompson Center is to help people in smaller communities around the state. Austin said the grant will help families of smaller communities with autistic children navigate the system as well as provide the appropriate services.

Within the next six months the grant will help fund a new part-time mentor position. This new mentor will be someone who has a child with autism and will help provide additional services to families in similar positions.

"We anticipate that this grant is going to continue to move Missouri forward," Farmer said.

Families across the state who have children with autism or who suspect that their children have autism should be seeing the effects of the grant shortly as the services are expanded.