The Carol Jenkins Barnett United Way Children’s Resource Center is CARD-Certified Autism Friendly

The Carol Jenkins Barnett United Way Children’s Resource Center is now officially recognized as Autism Friendly by The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) at the University of South Florida.

According to The CARD-USF website, 25,000 people with autism live in and around the Tampa Bay region, with over 79,000 people in Southwest Florida. To receive the “Autism Friendly” certification, the Children’s Resource Center employees received training on how to approach and assist individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and provide accommodations to better serve an individual with ASD.

The Carol Jenkins Barnett United Way Children’s Resource Center will be listed in their business directory, along with this social narrative for families to read and help prepare their child(ren) before their visit.

“We are honored to be a new CARD Certified Autism Friendly space and will continue to work to support ASD children and families in our community,” shared Success By Six Director Gretchen Ceranic. “The center is committed to strengthening families by increasing access to resources and services, empowering and supporting parents to be the best parent they can be. We are committed to being a place where all children and families feel welcome, included and supported. We aim to give them the foundation to grow into healthy and productive community members.”

The Children’s Resource Center houses United Way’s in-house early childhood education initiative programming and is open to the public Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Classes and workshops are designed to help prepare children for school and are listed on their website at uwresourcecenter.org.