Families for Effective Autism Treatment of Washington Programs
Rising Star Academy
Providing high quality early childhood intervention for all learners ages 3-7, RSA stands as FEAT of Washington’s flagship early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) program. Each week, RSA provides up to 30 hours of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services to the students who attend the program.
Super Saturdays
Super Saturday is a social and respite program promoting productive interaction between children with autism and their typical siblings. Super Saturday improves leisure skills, and provides families with much needed respite. Our program is staffed by trained, committed, and closely supervised FEAT volunteers.Programs at multiple sites are coordinated by experienced providers who closely supervise committed volunteers of varying ages. Former volunteers report their experience doing Super Saturday during high school influenced their later career choices.
Experience Learning Project
FEAT of Washington's model service learning program, ELP is designed for teens with High Functioning Autism (HFA) or Asperger's Syndrome. The South Sound ELP operates on a rolling basis during the school year; teens may join any time from October through June. Enrolled teens aged 13-18 not only learn how to socialize with one another and others in their communities, but they also learn how to be contributors as well, as they perform services for those in need.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
FEAT of Washington:
- engaged over 300 students with our direct service programs
- found mentors for 100 families
- provided over 22,000 hours of high- quality intervention to children
- 800 families found hope and support
- Student participants demonstrated impressive gains during the year in receptive, expressive and overall language skills as well as adaptive behavior, motor and cognitive performance. Student progress is tracked using a suite of standardized tests that enable objective comparison over time to the students' abilities at the beginning of the program.
We need funds for operation and replication of programs to provide support to families. What makes FEAT unique is its focus on the family. This is an organization run by parents for parents. FEAT programs also serve as an incubator for model clinical programs and trains professionals and community advocates to replicate similar programs throughout the region. In the coming year, we hope to have greater focus on replicability of our clinical programs, so we may reach even more families. Our goal is to increase accessibility of quality interventions for all families and children navigating the journey of autism.