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SEARCH [Support, Education, Advocacy, Resources, Community, Hope] is the Family Autism Resource Center at UC Riverside. It was developed to serve as "one stop shopping" for families who need educational information for their children on the autism spectrum, from diagnosis through the transition into to adulthood.

An overview of what you'll find at SEARCH includes:

• An active Screening Clinic, where we utilize the "gold standard" methods of determining whether or not a child falls on the autism spectrum. Screening services are offered in both English and Spanish.
• Help for parents in finding evidence-based educational treatments for their child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and to learn to differentiate those from unsubstantiated treatments.
• Opportunities for parents, teachers, and individuals on the spectrum to participate interactively in studies pertaining to: autism and school transitions, such as Smooth Sailing; the transition to adulthood; and the PEERS® social skills intervention for young Latinx teens with ASD and their parents.
• Educational trainings to assist university personnel and professors to best teach and interact with university students with ASD. The Autism 101 studies, conducted with such students, inform our training practices.
• Confidential conversations, called Faculty Office Hours, with any faculty, teaching assistants, or staff who interact with students with autism in a teaching or advisory role on campus.

We have recently established a SEARCH Fellows Fund. The center operates with a small core staff, and the weight is carried primarily by SEARCH Fellows, who are UCR graduate research assistants funded by private grants, donations, or research projects. During their doctoral program, the Fellows donate their time in providing direct service to the community of families and autism.

Please help us expand the Fellows program by supporting the SEARCH Center with a  tax-deductible gift, so that more top-ranked students from around the country can receive their Ph.D. from UCR’s Graduate School of Education. [Make checks out to UC Regents, SEARCH Center; mail to SEARCH, Graduate School of Education, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521.]

Finally, SEARCH has been directly involved in the production of the documentary, Autism Goes to College. The film features five college students on the autism spectrum, including a UCR graduate, who talk about their postsecondary experiences, challenges, and successes. If you are interested in organizing a viewing of the documentary for your group or institution, please write (jan.blacher@ucr.edu) or call 951-827-3849.

For fun, view Autism Goes to College.

Best,

Jan Blacher, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Education
Associate Dean; former UC Presidential Chair
Director, SEARCH