The Ernie Els Centre for Autism South Africa 3.2

WHAT IS AUTISM?

Autism is one of a group of serious developmental problems called autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that appear in early childhood -- usually before age 3. Some children show signs of autism in early infancy. Other children may develop normally for the first few months or years of life but then suddenly become withdrawn, become aggressive or lose language skills they've already acquired. Children with autism generally have problems in three crucial areas of development -- social interaction, language and behavior. But because autism symptoms vary greatly, two children with the same diagnosis may act quite differently and have strikingly different skills. In most cases, though, severe autism is typically marked by an inability to communicate or interact with other people normally.

The number of children diagnosed with autism is rising. About 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. While there is no cure for autism, intensive, early treatment can make a big difference in the lives of many children with the disorder

THE ERNIE ELS CENTRE FOR AUTISM, SOUTH AFRICA
The Ernie Els Centre for Autism, South Africa offers a parent-led intervention by delivering best practices for children with autism via a multi-faceted e-learning solution

The Ernie Els Centre for Autism believes that every child with autism can learn and deserves access to effective education. We recognize that every parent and family member plays an important role in helping their child reach his or her fullest potential. The Ernie Els Centre for Autism provides lower-resourced families of children on the autism spectrum with FREE comprehensive training on how to use best practices in education and autism treatment to teach their child via a multi-faceted e-learning solution.

At the Ernie Els Centre for Autism, we teach parents how to teach their child via an online educational treatment solution called Rethink First. Each session at the Centre is designed to promote parents independency using our digital programme and to enhance parents knowledge of best practices in teaching a child with autism. Our service is designed to be long-term as training and curriculum development are ever evolving areas in need.

Rethink First is a video-based treatment tool that shows parents, caregivers and educators how to teach a child with autism using Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). ABA treatments have the most scientific evidence proving their effectiveness and are based on breaking skills down into small teachable steps, using effective ways to help a child learn successfully and positive rewards and motivation. Rethink First provides you with a customized learning plan for your child, hundreds of easy-to follow, step-by-step video lessons and lesson plans that show you exactly how to teach your child and automated progress tracking so you can track your child’s progress.