Clinical Insights

Since its founding in 1994, CCSN: The Center for Children with Special Needs, has been bringing scientifically valid and evidence-based care to individuals with autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities across the lifespan. Recognizing this need, over the past 30-plus years CCSN has expanded in Connecticut, with physical locations in Glastonbury and Farmington, as well as providing consultation and educational support throughout the region and internationally.

Since our founding over 30 years ago, CCSN has held as a steadfast and core value the recognition and celebration of diversity in our patients, their families, our staff, and the communities we support. Our decades of unwavering and unequivocal recognition of these values is something that we, as an organization, believe to be at the heart of what we do and the impact that we can collectively make on those in the world around us.

Glastonbury, CT — This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Center for Children with Special Needs (CCSN), a milestone that celebrates three decades of unwavering commitment to supporting individuals with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders, along with their families, communities, and educational partners. Since its founding in 1994, CCSN has continually evolved to meet the increasing demand for high-quality care and support.

With the guidance of Dr. Mark Palmieri, Nichole Collins helped CCSN to launch NeuroCare services for the first time in the Spring of 2021. That’s right! We started this work when the world had its doors largely closed to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Alongside Drs. Felicia Morgan and Kristen Powers, the brainstorming and work began to organize how to be helpful to adults and families wanting supports in the State of CT in the areas of acquired brain injury (ABI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

When you have a brain injury or autism, you may have a whole team of people willing to speak up for you. Though these team members may have good intentions and/or professional experience, your voice should be heard clearly. This isn’t easy for everyone. Frustration or fear may get in the way making it harder to know what they want. We have a few strategies that may help you to have stronger voice in your person-centered meetings or discussions.

Growing into adulthood often means becoming more independent in different aspects of our lives. Despite, knowing how to do certain skills, some people still fail to take the lead on their own lives and activities. If you are struggling to help someone increase their motivation, here are some things that may help.

CCSN: The Center for Children with Special Needs is excited to announce its expansion into Farmington in the Spring of 2022. CCSN, currently based in Glastonbury, CT, has been providing educational consultation, evaluation, and treatment services supporting individuals with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders, across the lifespan. Opening a new location in Farmington will provide expanded access to patients and families in the Farmington Valley in addition to the families that we currently serve out of our Glastonbury offices.

For many years our families have asked us to consider opening other locations to help ease travel challenges and make high quality services available to those who may not be able to drive to Glastonbury.

Social skills are the gateway to happiness and all of life’s interactions. Work, school, relationships, and even buying food at the grocery store all require social skills. Yes, even the self-check out requires a certain level of social skills. They are everywhere! How do we know what to teach and when?

At CCSN, we are excited to provide a new clinical service for very young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder between the ages of 12 to 48 months using the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). ESDM is a developmental behavioral teaching model that emphasizes integrating the child’s interests into learning sessions based on a developmental curriculum.