Last night I attended the first annual awards banquet for the Parents of Autistic Children (POAC) of Northern Virginia, which represents 350 families in Fairfax County.   

There are many parent groups in the special education world, where committed parents track the academic research of their childrens' condition.  However, POAC is unique because it is actuallly taking the lead in combatting autism with new methodologies.  Here's the article that appeared in the Washington Times yesterday.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071211/FAMILY/112110020/1016

In a nutshell, the leadership of POAC has established its own academy to train "verbal behaviors instructors" that work with autistic children in a home setting.  Last night, POAC marked the graduation of the first set of instructors.

These new instructors will follow the latest techniques in "errorless teaching" for autistic kids.  I won't characterize the technique other than to say that the POAC parents think it works with their kids, and they are investing their time and money in the system. 

This is completely a parent-based initiative.  It can be a model for state or County agencies (or school systems) that are looking for a standardized method to reach and teach autistic children.  I look forward to the state learning from POAC's example and expanding this program to other Virginia jurisdictions. 

Thanks to the parents at POAC we are opening doors to understanding autism and bringing these Virginia children, who number in the thousands, into our mainstream.