What is JASPER?

JASPER is an acronym for joint attention, symbolic play, engagement, and regulation. These specific skills have a big impact for children with ASD and have been shown to lead to improvement in related skills such as language.

Caregivers/parents will be taught by therapists who are receiving rigorous training from the experts from UCLA who developed the JASPER intervention model. By taking an active role and teaming up with your coach you will learn therapeutic strategies important for supporting your child.

How will this program benefit my child?

With a clear focus on learning outcomes, the trusted team of therapists at AlphaBee and SAAAC offer an individualized approach for children with autism and their caregivers, to unlock learning potential. Using an approach targeting social communication skills delivered through online and in-person training, children with autism stand to gain improvements in joint engagement, play skills, communication and emotional regulation.

Is this program online or is it in-person?

The caregiver training is a hybrid model of hands-on, in-person, one-on-one support from a Masters level therapist, and online group training over a 12-week period for children with ASD up to 48 months old. The program is delivered through:

• A 2-hour online group session every other week,
• A 1-hour in-person session every other week with a therapist to support you as you apply the techniques with your child (remote option available).

Total training time between online and in-person session is 18 hours over a 12-week period.

We also ask that caregivers/parents practice taught techniques with their children independently throughout this 12-week period.

Online training will be delivered on the alphabeePro platform and all training content will be available to caregivers for review throughout the duration of the program. As well, a dedicated Service Coordination team will work with the clinical team to ensure that your child’s learning needs are met through the caregiver mediated service pathway.

Who is eligible?

Parents and caregiver of young children up to 48 months old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have had Ontario Autism Program (OAP) number issued. To learn more about OAP, click here.

How much will this program cost?

Our caregiver-mediated training is funded completely through the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) for caregivers/parents of young children up to 48 months old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

How do I register?

Please fill out the form on our registration page and an Intake Coordinator will email you to schedule your start date for September 2021.

What languages will the program be delivered in?

Our program will be delivered in English only and translation support will be available for the intake process.