
December 22, 2017 · 0 Comments
By Avery Park
On Tuesday, Dufferin Child and Family Services (DCAFS) hosted their first free autism screening clinic.
Held at the DCAFS building, 655 Riddell Road, the clinic was for children between the ages of 12 and 24 months. It will help to find early signs of autism and delays a child could have. The results of the Pierce study (2011) showed that some toddlers have these telling signs as early as 12 months old.
About one in 68 children in Canada have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and in the past 10 years the number of people affected by ASD has increased by 100%. This is something DCAFS would like to catch early on in a child’s life, because autism is the most common neurological disorder in Canada and they would like to help those who are affected by this.
DCAFS is a children’s service agency, always looking to provide child protection services, children’s mental health services and developmental support services to children and families in Dufferin County.
They have a vision and a mission, which is to give support to children, adults and families in a safe and welcoming community, and to be a resource people in the community can use to build the strength of children, adults and families.
To test toddlers for autism they will use simple, broadband screening tools and look into the environmental issues in a child’s life that could cause autism. It takes only 30 minutes for a caretaker to complete this process, which will give the people in our community a better chance of recognizing autism earlier in a child’s life.
There will be another clinic on Wednesday, January 10 for those who didn’t get the chance to make an appointment on Tuesday. To book an appointment for your child please contact Stephanie at 519-941-1530, ext 295.