Senator Lautenberg Visits Caldwell College for Autism Awareness Month

Community leaders, children with Autism and their parents, Caldwell College trustees, faculty, staff and students welcomed U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) to Caldwell College’s campus on Wednesday for Autism Awareness Month where he announced federal funding to advance Caldwell College’s new autism education doctoral program.

Caldwell College is a leader in training professionals to work with children with Autism. The college began the first doctoral program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in the state of New Jersey in fall 2009. ABA is a well developed scientific discipline that is best known for its proven ability to greatly help children with autism spectrum disorder.

“New Jersey has the highest autism rate of any state in the nation,” stated Lautenberg. “The alarm has been sounded and I am working with Caldwell College to answer the call. This pioneering autism education program will strengthen our workforce of teachers, enhance autism research and provide new services to individuals and families struggling with autism.”

The press conference was held in the Mother Joseph Residence Hall Lounge on the campus, the site of the Caldwell College Center for Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis, which will open in fall 2010 and will serve children with Autism and their families.

“We were extremely fortunate to be joined on our journey by Senator Lautenberg, and his colleagues in the New Jersey Delegation who worked together to provide strong support, encouragement and federal investment for our newly launched Doctoral program in Applied Behavior Analysis,” said Caldwell College President Nancy H. Blattner, Ph.D. She pointed out that Caldwell College has looked for effective strategies to alleviate the strains on regional school districts due to the limited number of professionals who have been adequately and effectively trained to assume leadership roles in developmental services, special education and mental health to support people with autism.

“When our students graduate in a few years, they will be prepared with the highest level of training and skills to start new programs for individuals with autism and to refine and improve existing programs. Each doctorally trained professional can effectively impact upwards of 100 individuals with autism. Within the next five years, this means that we will be able to help thousands of individuals with autism in the state of New Jersey to live more productive and independent lives,” said Sharon A. Reeve, Ph.D., Coordinator of Applied Behavior Analysis Graduate programs at Caldwell College.

In 2004, the College was the first in New Jersey to implement a Master’s program in Applied Behavior Analysis and has since become a leader in training qualified professionals to help meet the needs of children and families affected by Autism.

The Center will be a state-of-the-art facility that will feature a team of highly trained professionals guiding parents and teachers and will provide the most effective autism treatments currently available.