UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State (Clearinghouse), in partnership with the Department of Defense, has launched a new parent-education module designed to help parents and caregivers navigate the journey with their children who are neurodivergent or who have autism spectrum disorder.
The "Neurodiversity and Autism: The Journey with Your Child" module is an addition to the Thrive Initiative's suite of evidence-informed parenting programs. This free, self-paced online training, which takes roughly two hours to complete, can empower caregivers of children, from birth to 18 years old, to better understand and support their child's unique strengths.
“This module provides support to parents and caregivers that accounts for individual differences in brain function and behavioral traits,” said Terri Rudy, research portfolio manager for the Thrive Initiative at the Clearinghouse. “When the adults in a child’s life can understand the child’s neurodiversity, they can better leverage their strengths, advocate for their needs and build their self-esteem.”
The new module is divided into easily digestible sessions that introduce participants to neurodiversity and autism spectrum disorder, provide guidance on parenting children who have unique needs and thinking patterns, deliver direction on how to build a supportive community for children and families and offer tips on how parents can prioritize their own well-being.
“We hope users who participate in this module find ways to embrace neurodiversity by recognizing and valuing differences, like those of their own child, and advocating for inclusive practices and providing support that is tailored to an individual’s needs,” Rudy said. “We also hope users recognize that by focusing on strengths and creating environments that allow for diverse ways of learning and interacting, parents, caregivers and other caring adults can help neurodivergent children thrive.”
The Thrive Initiative offers a comprehensive library of parenting programs, modules and resources that are designed to strengthen families and improve the parent-child relationship. The core universal programs address common parenting challenges across different age groups, while supplemental modules like this new one address specific topic areas. While the Clearinghouse recommends that parents and caregivers engage in a core universal module prior to participating in a supplemental module, this is not required.
“The universal Thrive programming identifies common everyday moments that many parents experience, then works through scenarios and offers strategies to parents and caregivers for how they can strengthen their skills,” Rudy said. “By working through the scenarios and modules, parents and caregivers can develop a sense of self-efficacy, strengthen the parent-child relationship through play and praise, and better manage children's behavior by using positive discipline strategies.”
To learn more about the Thrive Initiative and enroll in the "Neurodiversity and Autism: The Journey with Your Child" module, visit www.thrive.psu.edu. For questions about the Thrive programming, email the Clearinghouse Thrive team at thrive@psu.edu. Follow Thrive on Facebook or Instagram for updates and resources.
The Thrive Initiative is the result of partnership funded by the Department of Defense between the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy and the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture through a grant/cooperative agreement with Penn State.
About the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness
The Clearinghouse is an applied research center committed to advancing service members' and their families' health and well-being. The Clearinghouse takes a solution-oriented approach that includes conducting applied research studies, building workforce expertise through training and resource provision, implementing and evaluating evidence-informed programs and practices, and delivering objective data and policy-relevant findings so that decisions are based on the best science and evidence available. The Clearinghouse is located within Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute.