Autism & Intellectual Disability

 
An autistic boy and his parents play with autumn leaves, showcasing social-emotional growth and strengthened parent-child bonds.
 


At Hamilton Family Counseling we specialize in therapy for children ages 1-12 who have difficulty managing behaviors, emotions, impulses including children on the autism spectrum or who have intellectual disability.

Adoptive and foster families can especially benefit.
LGBTQIA+ affirmative.

 
 
A toddler-aged autistic girl reads a book with her mother who is holding her.

Therapeutic Support that Works

For these families we provide Parent-Child CARE (PC-CARE). Developed at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, PC-CARE offers a specialized protocol for children with autism and/or intellectual disability who are developmentally between the ages of 1-10 years old.

Parents learn therapeutic play skills to strengthen bonding, language skills, and reciprocal social skills (making eye contact, sharing toys, using polite words). Parents also learn calming strategies to dissolve outbursts and facilitate the development of self-soothing skills.

Mother and father sit on a bench in a part with their autistic son smiling, illustrating how PC-CARE can improve bonding, warmth, and connection for children with autism.

Even more, parents are also empowered with behavior therapy skills so they can become their child’s therapeutic specialist and make it easier for their children to transition activities, follow rules, and listen to instructions happily.

Finally, PC-CARE can be paired simultaneously with ABA or other in-home behavior modification services, to provide robust and well-rounded support to increase the warmth and affection in the parent-child bond, transform disruptive behaviors, and support all areas of development.

 

Additional Options

We also provide Parent Only Strategy Sessions where parents can ask questions and get on the same page with quick, practical parenting solutions that both parents agree on.

And our Online Parenting Bootcamp teaches the principles of PCIT and PC-CARE in a support group atmosphere from the comfort of your home.

Two parents sit on a window seal giving each other a high five during an onlin therapy session that is helping them come to agreement about how to help their child with autism..
 

Let’s work together to transform your child's challenges into triumphs and increase the peace and connection in your home!