About Us
The Christian Sarkine Autism Treatment Center is the only comprehensive hospital-based and university affiliated autism treatment center engaging in clinical research and outreach activities in the state of Indiana. All of our physicians and psychologists are faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. As part of the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Center is a teaching institution dedicated to bringing the most current and accurate information to its professionals, students, and consumers. Interventions are based on the individual goals and objectives of caregivers. Services are provided to individuals across the autism spectrum, including individuals of all ages, language abilities, and overall developmental levels. The general goal is to help children and adults with autism spectrum disorders to achieve their potential and to participate as fully as possible in family, school, and community life.
The HANDS (Helping Answer Needs by Developing Specialists) in Autism program is the outreach and training extension of the CSATC and is housed in the historic Fesler Hall immediately across the pathway from the ROC. This program was initiated with foundational funding from the Centers for Disease Control and expanded with support from the Indiana Department of Education, Division of Exceptional Learners and a number of charitable and philanthropic donations. The HANDS program has an active website with information, materials and e-learning opportunities and also sponsors series such as the Make It Take It workshops, Next Steps workshops, and the Learn It Live It workshop. However, the core efforts of the HANDS in Autism program have centered on developing and evolving an innovative training model. The HANDS in Autism training model was founded on the belief that training should focus on: (1) individual strengths, (2) comprehensive training, (3) data driven decision making, (4) blending evidence-based intervention strategies based in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) , and (5) hands-on practice, coaching and mentoring with individuals with an autism spectrum disorder and with a range of strengths and challenges in a variety of functional and academic skills.
