Autism/SPARC

Southeastern Pennsylvania Autism Resource Center

SPARC
1160 McDermott Drive #214
West Chester, PA 19383
Phone: 610-430-5678
SPARC@wcupa.edu


Consultative Services

We offer consultative services to parents/families as well as to schools, daycares, and other service providers.

Parent/Family Services

IEP review and recommendations

The IEP process can be very overwhelming for parents. SPARC offers services to assist with this difficult and sometimes stressful process. A consultant will review the child's current IEP and through observation and data collection make recommendations that are appropriate for the student.

The service includes:

  1. Intake
  2. School observation(s)
  3. Home observation (s) (if applicable)
  4. Conducting Psycho-educational evaluations- if applicable (see below)
  5. Data analysis to determine recommendations
  6. Review meeting to discuss observations and recommendations
  7. Attendance at IEP meeting (upon request)

Evaluations of current school placement

IDEA'97 requires children to be placed in the least restrictive environment (LRE); which is has 2 components (published in Federal Register, March 12, 1999: 1) to maximum extent possible the student is to be educated with his or her general education peers 2) student should be removed from that setting only when the nature of his or her disability precludes an adequate educational experience even when supplementary learning aids are used.

It is often difficult as a parent to determine what is LRE for their child. SPARC assists with this process by:

  1. Reviewing IEP
  2. Observing school
  3. Conducting Psycho-educational evaluations (see below)
  4. Data analysis to determine recommendations
  5. Review meeting to discuss observations and recommendations
  6. Attendance at IEP meeting (upon request)

Psycho-educational evaluations

SPARC offers independent evaluations for families to assess their child's current intellectual, adaptive, and academic functioning. Depending on the need, assessment of the following areas may be included:

  1. Intellectual
  2. Adaptive Skills
  3. Academic Achievement
  4. Vocational
  5. Reading

In addition, observations at school and academic related times (e.g., homework) can be completed as well as teacher interviews. At the end of the evaluation, a feedback session is held resulting in a comprehensive written report with recommendations. As needed, a functional behavior assessment (FBA) can also be conducted in addition to a psycho-educational evaluation.

Daycare/School/Service Providers Consultative Services

SPARC works with individual daycares, intermediate units, and schools to address the needs of children they identify as requiring services such as: behavior assessments, evaluations/diagnostics, behavior plans, academic planning, social skill planning, and functional communication. These services are NOT restricted to individuals on the autism spectrum.

The service includes:

  1. School observations
  2. Assessments (if applicable)
  3. Home observation(s) (if applicable)
  4. Data analysis to determine recommendations
  5. Review meeting with team to discuss data and recommendations
  6. Follow-ups as needed


SPARC can aid teachers, schools, daycares in designing classroom behavior management plans.

The service includes:

  1. School observations
  2. Data analysis to determine recommendations
  3. Review meeting with team to discuss data, recommendations, and assistance in developing a comprehensive classroom management plan.
  4. Follow-ups as needed


SPARC offers training workshops to other service providers on a myriad of topics including understanding applied behavior analysis, autism spectrum disorders, functional assessment, and feeding disorders. All workshops are interactive and can build upon each other.