Our mission is to provide high quality services to people with autism, their families and the community at large, by adhering to practices derived from a fundamental understanding of autism as expressed by individuals with autism.

To nurture and develop appropriate support systems to enable people with autism to successfully participate in all public and personal social interactions to the greatest extent possible.

To enable individuals with autism and their families to experience everyday life by enhancing opportunities for increased independence and individual choice.

• We believe in providing high-quality services to people with autism and delivering the services in the manner they are promised.
• We believe honesty is foremost in all communication and assessments
• To best support individuals with autism, we believe in a multi-faceted approach utilizing “Best Practices” methods
• We believe in education and that we have an obligation to share our knowledge with the larger community by providing needed supports and educational opportunities

The philosophy at Autism Consulting Team is guided by adherence to our three core practice principles:

• A fundamental understanding of autism as expressed by individuals with autsim
• A "Best Practices," multidisciplinary approach with emphasis on the environment
• Expert and efficient use of existing protections within the system to produce collaborative engagement and maximum outcomes

Guided by our core principles, it is our philosophy that individuals with autsim are best served by parents and guardians empowered to understand the way the "system" works. It is our sincere belief that empowered parents and guardians are the best advocates for their children.

Too often, families attend important meetings with little to no understanding of how the system operates and where responsibilities lie. In turn, the system itself does not explicitly share knowledge of how it works for fear of giving families the upper hand. Parents, in their quest to do the best the they can for their children, routinely hire professional advocates and/or attorneys who support the letter of the law without true regard for the uniqueness of the child and the way the family is affected by the needs of that child. In fact, it is not uncommon for said advocates and attorneys to represent families without actually meeting the child before acting on their behalf. Though sometimes successful in achieving desired parental outcomes, the end result is that parents are no more knowledgeable about the system itself or how to proceed on their own without incurring great financial costs. Worse still, though the outcome attained may be awarded by adherence to the letter of the law, it may in fact not be the best placement for the individual needs of the child.

At Autism Consulting Team, it is our goal to empower parents and guardians with the knowledge, skills and strategies they need to best support their child with special needs throughout their educational and developmental continuum. While it may seem counterintuitive from a business perspective, we know we have successfully completed our work when you no longer require our services. (Return to top)

Kristin Enriquez Capalbo has been working directly and indirectly with autistic children and their families in a variety of venues for over 15 years. Her numerous roles have included home care provider, home trainer, teacher assistant, and behavioral manager as well as public school special education teacher, tutor and school district-level inclusion specialist, autism specialist, program specialist, program coordinator and program director. She is also the Principal of Autism Consulting Team (ACT), a private autism and special education consulting firm with contracts in the public, non- public and private sectors.

She has worked as a consultant for the development of IEP's, IFSP's and IPP's and has redesigned various classrooms and home environments in order to support people with autism in a variety of positive and effective ways.

Mrs. Enriquez Capalbo holds a B.A. in Elementary Education as well as Special Education for Students with Intense Special Needs from Boston College. She also earned a combined Psychology/Sociology degree from the same University. In addition, she was awarded an M.A. in Educational Administration from the California State University, Northridge. Credentials in the state of California include the areas of Multiple Subjects, Education Specialist (authorizing the teaching of people with more severe disabilities from ages birth through 22) and a Tier One Credential in Educational Administration.

In 1996 she solely founded, directed, and led the C.A.M.P. program originally located in South Pasadena, CA. Still acting as the C.A.M.P. Executive Director, she has successfully expanded the program to accommodate up to 45 children/teens with autism and supervises over 20 employees and a number of volunteers.

Mrs. Enriquez Capalbo has worked with individuals in inclusive and special day classes in both public and non- public schools. With her varied experiences, she has learned and developed appropriate strategies to guide families to work in conjunction with the "system" - rather than against it - to achieve maximum benefit for all parties involved. (Return to top)

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