Early Years

Early intervention plays a crucial role in supporting children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research has shown that early diagnosis and timely support improve outcomes and long-term development. CHEO is proud to offer Social ABCs through the Ontario Autism Program: caregiver-mediated early years programs.

Our Early Years Services are available in French and English for families living in:

Eastern Ontario,including: Ottawa, Cornwall, Stormont-Dundas and Glengarry county, Prescott and Russell county, and Renfrew County
Central Region of Ontario specifically: Dufferin/Wellington, Waterloo – to provide French Early Years Services only.

CHEO serves children as young as 12 months - helping our youngest be their best.

Social ABCs uses a caregiver-mediated early intervention model, which means we teach parents and caregivers how to interact with their children in a way that supports their development. This evidence-based service is an exciting opportunity for young children with autism to develop their communication and social skills in a natural way —leveraging play, individual interests, and existing family routines. Social ABCs is delivered by CHEO's ABA-trained staff over the course of six weeks. Each week, children and their caregivers will participate in 1:1 coaching strategies to address their individualized needs as well as caregiver group sessions, for information sharing, peer-support and education.

We are currently accepting applications for the next Social ABCs session.

If you have any questions, please call our Neurodevelopmental Health Intake Team at 613 737 7600 ext. 7770 or email us at neurodevelopmentalhealth@cheo.on.ca.

Why Social ABCs?

The Social ABCs program is an evidence-based Naturalistic Developmental Behavioural Intervention. This means we look for natural opportunities to develop skills and resolve challenging behaviours, like when your child is playing, participating in family routines or engaging in hobbies they enjoy. As your child’s primary caregiver, you are the expert.

Through this service, our ABA-trained staff will support you in this role, helping you learn strategies to motivate your child, build on their interests and make use of natural opportunities for your child to learn and develop.

Together, you and your child will work towards common goals like:

becoming more successful at home, school and the community

building communication skills
developing emotional regulation skills (both caregiver and child)
learning strategies to manage challenging behaviours
sharing positive emotion
learning strategies to encourage play

learning how to support social routine
learning strategies to practice caregiver self-care

Who can apply?

Social ABCs is a program designed to provide support to families who:

have children 42 months of age or younger with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis

are registered with the Ontario Autism Program (OAP)

Logan

"Everything about the program was so laid back and non-judgmental. I was never made to feel like I wasn't doing something right. Logan has had so much success with the Social ABCs program and can now say so many new words. It has been so successful for our family. "

- Tara, Social ABCs parent

Read Tara and Logan's #BestLife story

Autism Services