🧠 AI Summary:
When an autism diagnosis arrives — or when life with autism gets overwhelming — many families don’t know where to turn first. The Autism Response Team (ART) from Autism Speaks is a free, nationwide resource staffed by specially trained specialists who can help families find local services, navigate the system, understand their rights, and access the tools they need. This blog explains exactly what the ART is, who it serves, what it can help with, and how to reach it — because every family deserves to know this resource exists.
The Method Behind the Magic
If your child is receiving ABA therapy — or if you’re researching it for the first time — you’ve likely heard the term Discrete Trial Training, or DTT. It comes up often in conversations about autism intervention, and for good reason: it is one of the most extensively researched and widely used teaching methods in the field.
But what exactly is it? What does a DTT session actually look like? Is it the same thing as ABA? Is it the right approach for your child?
This guide answers all of those questions — in plain language, without the jargon — so you can be a fully informed partner in your child’s therapy journey.
You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
The day an autism diagnosis arrives is one of the most significant days in a family’s life. And for many families, it is also one of the most disorienting.
Where do you start? What services does your child need? How do you get them? What are your rights? Where do you find providers in your area? What do you do while you wait?
The questions multiply faster than the answers can come — and the systems families need to navigate are often complex, jargon-filled, and geographically inconsistent.
This is exactly why the Autism Response Team exists. And it’s a resource that far too many families have never heard of.
What Is the Autism Response Team?
The Autism Response Team — commonly known as the ART — is a free information and support service operated by Autism Speaks, the world’s largest autism advocacy organization.
ART members are specially trained to connect families with information, resources, and opportunities. They are available to answer calls and emails, and your call or email will be routed to a team member for your region.
In 2007, Autism Speaks launched the Autism Response Team, which provides direct support to hundreds of thousands of autistic people and their families. The Autism Response Team helps connect community members with local resources, information, best practices, financial tools and other services. In recent years, ART has begun serving community members in Spanish as well as English.
It’s important to understand what ART is — and what it is not. The ART is not a direct medical, legal advice, or service provider, so they don’t make appointments or direct referrals. However, the team will provide you with support, encouragement, and assistance in locating autism service providers in your community.
Think of the ART as a knowledgeable, compassionate guide — someone who has navigated the autism resource landscape extensively and can help you find what you need, even when you don’t yet know what to look for.
Who Is the ART For?
This is one of the most important things to understand about the Autism Response Team: it is for everyone.
Autism Speaks is happy to talk with people with autism, parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, social workers, and everyone in between. Even if you have no connection to autism but have a question, please feel free to reach out. Autism Speaks assists people of all ages, including children, teens, and adults with autism.
Whether you are a parent who just received your child’s diagnosis last week, a grandparent trying to understand what your grandchild is experiencing, a teacher wondering how to support a student in your classroom, or an adult with autism looking for community and employment resources — the ART is designed to help you.
There are no eligibility requirements. There is no referral needed. There is no cost. You simply reach out — and someone trained and ready will respond.
What Can the ART Help With?
The range of topics the Autism Response Team can assist with is remarkably broad. Here is a comprehensive look at what families can call or email about:
Navigating a New Diagnosis
A new autism diagnosis often comes with an avalanche of information — and just as much uncertainty. The ART can help newly diagnosed families understand what the diagnosis means, what types of interventions and therapies are available, and how to prioritize next steps.
Families who have a child that has been diagnosed with ASD in the last 6 months can call ART to request a complimentary hard copy of the 100 Day Kit — a guide created to help families make the best use of the first 100 days after receiving a diagnosis.
This is one of the most powerful resources available to newly diagnosed families — a practical roadmap for what to do, in what order, in those overwhelming first months.
Finding Local Services and Providers
One of the most common questions the ART receives is: where do I find providers in my area?
ART can help you learn about the Autism Speaks Resource Guide, an online national database of autism providers and resources searchable by state and zip code.
This is particularly valuable for families in rural areas, families who have recently moved, or families whose existing providers are no longer available. The ART can help you identify ABA therapy providers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, social skills groups, support groups, and more — all searchable by location.
Understanding Educational Rights
Navigating the school system with an autistic child requires knowing your rights — and those rights are extensive, though not always clearly communicated.
ART can help you learn more about the rights and entitlements of children with autism, and provide resources to help you prepare for your child’s IEP meeting.
Whether your child is being evaluated for special education services for the first time, you’re preparing for an IEP meeting, you’re dealing with a placement dispute, or you need to understand what your child’s school is legally required to provide — the ART can help you access the information you need to advocate effectively.
Early Intervention
For families of very young children showing developmental concerns, early intervention is one of the most important actions they can take — and time matters enormously.
If you’re concerned your child has a developmental delay, the ART can help you connect with your local Early Intervention resources. Early intervention services can make extraordinary differences in your child’s development.
If you’re in Ohio, this means connecting with Help Me Grow — Ohio’s Early Intervention program for children birth to age three. In Utah, it means connecting with Utah’s Early Intervention program. The ART can help families in any state find the right door to knock on.
Tool Kits and Family Resources
Autism Speaks has developed an extensive library of free tool kits for families navigating different stages of the autism journey.
These tool kits provide information, timelines, strategies, and more on many topics relevant to the autism community.
Available tool kits include resources for newly diagnosed families, siblings of children with autism, grandparents, school-age children, adolescents, and the transition to adulthood — among many others. The ART can help you identify which tool kits are most relevant to your situation and how to access them.
Transition to Adulthood
One of the most anxiety-producing chapters for autism families is the transition from school-age services to adult life. What happens when your child ages out of the school system? What employment options exist? What about housing and independent living?
Contact ART to learn about the Transition Tool Kit that provides options to explore as you and your adolescent with autism begin to plan for adulthood.
Planning for adulthood should ideally begin years before the transition happens — and the ART can help families understand the timeline, the options, and the resources that exist in their community.
Adult Services
Autism doesn’t end at 18, and neither does the need for support. The ART recognizes that adults with autism — and their families — need resources too.
Connecting adults with autism to support services, resources and information is a priority for Autism Speaks. Contact ART for more information on local resources for adults with autism, including employment and housing information.
From supported employment programs to housing resources to community inclusion opportunities, the ART can help adult autistic individuals and their caregivers navigate what can be a significantly underserved landscape.
Parent Support and Connection
Perhaps most importantly for families who are in the thick of it — the ART is a source of human connection and encouragement.
Sometimes managing the day-to-day challenges of living with autism is overwhelming and can be isolating. Contact ART for help connecting with other families who know what it’s like to “walk in your shoes.”
Isolation is one of the most underappreciated challenges of autism caregiving. The ART can help families find local and online support groups, parent networks, and community connections that provide the kind of understanding that only comes from people who have lived the same experience.
How to Reach the Autism Response Team
The ART is accessible by phone, email, and live chat — in both English and Spanish.
Phone (English): 888-288-4762, available Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EDT.
Phone (Spanish): 1-888-772-9050 para información en Español.
Email: [email protected]
Live Chat: Available Monday through Friday on the Autism Speaks website at autismspeaks.org.
If the team is unable to answer your call, please leave a voicemail and someone will call you back as soon as possible.
Your call is routed to a team member in your region, which means the person you speak with has familiarity with the resources, providers, and systems in your area. This regional expertise makes a real difference in the quality and specificity of the guidance you receive.
What to Expect When You Call
Many families are unsure what to expect when they reach out to the ART — and some worry about feeling judged, overwhelmed, or dismissed. The experience is typically the opposite.
ART team members are Certified Resource Specialists who are trained specifically to receive families at every stage of the autism journey — from the day of diagnosis to decades later. They listen without judgment. They provide information without overwhelm. And they follow your lead, focusing on the questions and concerns that matter most to you right now.
Please note that the ART isn’t a direct service provider, so appointments or direct referrals cannot be made. However, the team will provide you with support, encouragement, and assistance with locating autism service providers in your community.
What you walk away with is not a referral or an appointment, but something arguably more valuable: clarity. A clearer sense of what options exist, what your rights are, what resources are available in your community, and what to do next.
The ART and ABA Therapy: Finding the Right Provider
One of the most common reasons families contact the ART is to find ABA therapy providers in their area. If your child has been diagnosed with autism and you’ve been told that ABA therapy is recommended — but you don’t know where to start — the ART can point you to the Autism Speaks Resource Guide, which includes searchable listings of ABA providers by zip code.
From there, the questions to ask any prospective ABA provider include:
- What is the BCBA-to-client ratio? How often will a BCBA supervise my child’s sessions?
- What is the therapist-to-child ratio during sessions? (At On Target ABA, every child has their own dedicated 1:1 RBT.)
- Does the provider use a play-based, naturalistic approach? Or is therapy exclusively table-based?
- How are parents involved in the therapy program?
- Does the provider accept our insurance?
- How long is the typical wait time to begin services?
At On Target ABA, we serve families across Ohio and Utah and are happy to answer all of these questions directly. We accept most major insurance plans and Medicaid, offer on-site autism evaluations, and most families begin therapy within weeks of reaching out.
Additional Autism Speaks Resources Worth Knowing
Beyond the ART, Autism Speaks offers a range of free resources that families across Ohio and Utah should be aware of:
The Autism Speaks Resource Guide — A searchable national database of autism service providers, support groups, and community resources. Search by state and zip code at autismspeaks.org/resource-guide.
Family Services Tool Kits — Free downloadable guides covering topics from the first 100 days after diagnosis to transition planning for adulthood. Available at autismspeaks.org.
The Autism Speaks 100 Day Kit — Specifically designed for families of children newly diagnosed within the last 6 months. Call the ART to request a free hard copy.
The Transition Tool Kit — For families beginning to plan for their adolescent’s future after high school. A comprehensive guide to employment, housing, post-secondary education, and community living options.
A Note From On Target ABA
At On Target ABA, we believe deeply that informed families are empowered families. The more you understand about the resources available to you — both through organizations like Autism Speaks and through quality ABA providers like us — the better equipped you are to advocate for your child and access the support your whole family deserves.
The Autism Response Team is one of the most underutilized resources in the autism community. We encourage every family we serve — and every family who hasn’t yet connected with us — to save their number, reach out when questions arise, and lean on the people and organizations that exist to support you.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. There are people who have dedicated their careers to helping you navigate exactly what you’re navigating. The ART is one of them. We are another.
→ Contact On Target ABA to learn about ABA therapy services in Ohio and Utah
→ Read: What to do while you’re on an ABA therapy waitlist
→ Read: Does insurance cover ABA therapy? A complete guide for Ohio and Utah families
→ Read: ABA therapy myths vs. facts — what every family should know