About Project ACCESS

Banner

Who we are:

Established in 1985, Project ACCESS continues to serve as a collaboration between Missouri State University and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Division of Special Education (DESE) with the goal of enhancing the development of professional skills in Missouri's educators serving students with autism.

Staffed with resource specialists in autism, Project ACCESS offers professional development opportunities and autism consultation to Missouri's schools. These services are available on a statewide basis and are free or low cost. Information regarding all services may be obtained by contacting us or visiting the resources on this website. To learn more about autism, visit our Autism 101 page.

Our mission:

Fundamental to the mission of Project ACCESS is fullfilling a role that helps Missouri school districts comply with federal legislation (chiefly, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Law but also including other laws and US Courts rulings) and the Missouri Plan that was developed to ensure that Missouri districts comply with special education legal requirements and best practices.  

Specifically, the mission of Project ACCESS is to provide training, support services, and resources to Missouri educators who in turn support students who present with autism or pervasive developmental delays.  Our training, support, and resources are based upon research supported best practices in the field, including  evidence about the characteristics of autism, the science and technology of behavior support, a function-based model of intervention, and a set of research supported autism evidence-based intervention strategies.

What we do:

At Project ACCESS, our mission is to educate teachers and provide resources on evidence based practices for students with autism and other developmental delays.

  • Project ACCESS assists Local Education Agency (LEA) personnel serving students with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and those exhibiting behaviors characteristic of the target disorders.
  • Project ACCESS educates and trains school district personnel who serve students with autism and related developmental disabilities.
  • Project ACCESS refers professional consultants to school districts desiring on-site child-specific consultations with programming recommendations.

Keep in touch!

If you need to contact individual staff members, please consult the Project ACCESS online staff directory for individual contact information.

Link to facebook

Link to Instagram

Link to blog