Local Autism Assessment Teams

The ACCESS Project

ACCESS stands for Assuring Comprehensive Care through Enhanced Service Systems for Children with Autism. Since 2014, its mission has been to help medical and educational experts coordinate care when determining an ASD diagnosis and educational eligibility for Oregon children in their home communities. ACCESS builds relationships between school districts/early childhood educators, medical providers, and parent partners to support autism team evaluations that align with Oregon Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorder (OCASD) recommendations. The result is streamlined, valid, and timely evaluation processes that can determine both ASD diagnosis and educational eligibility for children up to age five.

As of September 2025, there are eight ACCESS Identification Teams across the state of Oregon and several emerging teams. OCCYSHN continues to support these ACCESS teams as well as collaborate with communities across the state for continued growth. 

For more information, contact the Oregon Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Needs:occyshn@ohsu.edu. 

The image shows a map of Oregon with 14 counties highlighted, which represents ACCESS activities across the state. The counties highlighted are: Tillamook, Polk, Marion, Wasco, Jefferson, Deschutes, Crook, Grant, Union, Baker, Douglas, Coos, Curry, Jackson. Many of our ACCESS teams span across multiple counties.
This map highlights counties with ACCESS activity (including emerging teams). Many of our ACCESS teams span across multiple counties. Counties include: Tillamook, Polk, Marion, Wasco, Jefferson, Deschutes, Crook, Grant, Union, Baker, Douglas, Coos, Curry, Jackson

Developing Autism Programming Across the State

ACCESS is currently collaborating with several other innovative initiatives serving autistic children and their families in Oregon. Each of these programs addresses a different component of the autism care continuum for young children and their families. Together, we will aim to integrate these efforts to provide a coordinated statewide model that provides seamless identification, diagnoses, navigation and intervention. 

•    Autism Assessment Capacity Project (AACP) - training PCPs in autism diagnostic evaluation

•    Autism Alert – bilingual care navigation

•     Opt-in Early - online parent training program for children with recent autism diagnoses

ASD identification resources and materials

Resources for Families

Getting Started at Home: Parent-Delivered Intervention

  • Help is in your hands: Free strategies parents can use at home to increase social interactions and communication
  • Mirror Me Online: Free online modules teach parents Reciprocal Imitation Training techniques to use at home with children
  • Autism Navigator: Free registration before age 24 months; Self-paced online modules
  • TRIAD Families First Program: Free programs to equip caregivers of children (ages 2-7) diagnosed with autism with practical tools
  • ADEPT (Autism Distance Education Parent Training) Interactive Learning: Original 10-lesson interactive, self-paced, online learning module providing parents with tools and training to more effectively teach their child with autism and other related neurodevelopmental disorders functional skills using applied behavior analysis (ABA) techniques

Tip Sheets for Families

Resources for Families in Spanish