The Green Bay/ Brown county community is very fortunate to have a variety of

community supports from behavioral therapy clinics, to recreational activities, to help with

vocational training, to residential supports, religious and spiritual groups, and support groups, for

indivudals and their families of an individual with Autism Spectrum disorder. Many groups are

free and are funded through donations and by volunteers. Some groups have low fees or

membership costs. For clinics many times their services are covered by insurance. For housing

there can be grants and waivers that cover costs. I’ve put together a few community resources

that help support those with ASD and their families in the Green Bay community.

We are fortunate to have quite a few options when it comes to places that offer services

for behavioral therapy. 3 examples are The Wisconsin Early Autism Project(WEAP,)

Centerpiece Autism Services, and Caravel Autism Health. WEAP offers a variety of services

such as evaluating and diagnosing autism, in home treatments, center-based treatments, social

skill groups, and outpatient counseling. They focus on early intervention and preschool aged

children. They work to provide the academic and social skills to children to help get them

prepared for school. They will also work with students who are in school to help build skills

more. They provide ABA therapy to their clients. Centerpiece Autism services is another group

that focuses on ABA therapy. Their services include ABA therapy, a teen program, parent

training, and they have PEERS for adolescence program. Their teen program meets twice a week

in the evening and is for indivudals ages 12-18 with ASD. PEERS for adolescence is a program

designed for individuals in middle and high school with ASD who want to partake in learning

ways to make and keep friends. IT’s a 14-week program. Centerpiece takes many different

insurances, waivers, Medicaid/Forward Health, and private pay. Caravel Autism also provides

ABA therapy along with providing evaluations and diagnosis’s, creating a customized autism
treatment plan, and social skills training. In most cases insurance pays for the services that

Caravel provides. They take private insurance, and Medicaid. Of the 3 clinics listed I personally

have worked for WEAP for 6 months.

Though Green Bay has a lot of support groups the one I closely looked at was the Autism

Society of Northeast Wisconsin. Their goal is to “Promote lifelong opportunities for people

within the autism spectrum to be fully-included, participating members of their communities by

providing information and referral, advocacy, public awareness, education, and support for

families and the professionals who assist them.” It’s a non-profit organization that serves Brown,

Shawano, Oconto, Marinette, Menominee, and Florence County. They don’t endorse or

recommend any doctor, clinic, treatment, therapy, or intervention of any kind. Their yearly

membership is $12 a year for an individual or $15 a year for a family. Being a member means

access too social events, parent support groups, adults with Asperger’s support, foundation

grants, scholarships to conferences, Autism society of WI newsletter, and REEL movies. Some

of the support groups for green bay are their morning and night parent support groups, and

Adult’s with Asperger’s and their Families support group. They also host an annual Autism

bowling fundraising event and an annual Autism Awareness Walk. Their site gives the calendar

of events that also is for Members of ASNEW. ASNEW has made grants available for qualifying

members to purchase goods and services pertaining to a child with an autism spectrum disorder.

You must be a member to apply for and be eligible for any grants.

The YMCA offers a program called the Full Circle Program. It’s designed for youth ages

3-14 that are diagnosed with ASD or have other sensory processing challenges. They provide

recreational programs and health wellness opportunities. Classes may include, Sensory Splash,

Swim Class, Gymnastics/Tumbling, Parkour, Learning with Legos, Music & Movement, Sports
& Skill Development, Group & Social Games, Summer Day Camp, and Girls Night Out or Boys

Night Out. Any of the 4 Y’s in the area offer the program but it varies from session to session.

They are seven-week sessions that follow 5-part consecutive sessions ranging from 30 -45

minutes each week. The annual fee is $75, and you don’t have to be a Y member to be a part of

the program. They currently have a waiting list and have limited space. Every 2-3 months they’ll

add a few more indivudals, but if interested its best to get on the waiting list. There is contact

info for the program director on the site.

There is a church in Green bay called the Able Church. It was founded in 2001. It’s made

up of indivudals with various disabilites and their families, caregivers, friends, and other

community members. They incorporate teaching opportunities through skits, puppets, object

lessons, group activities and other creative measures. They host services at nights on Fridays,

from 6:30-8pm. Their service is an hour then after the service they do a snack time where

members can interact with each other to help build a stronger community. They also host family

night which also includes a Special Olympic Practice of whatever sport is going on for the

season.

One housing program I found was Clarity Care. They offer a variety of services from day

services, home services, apartments, a community supported living program, respite care, a

CHANCE program, and other community and living services. They do include the costs of their

apartments and have low income housing available if an individual qualifies. The rates are based

upon the needs of the indivudals and there are ways to get help lower costs if a person is eligible.

Another wonderful thing in the community is Syble Hopp school. Syble Hopp School is a

public school that is funded through Brown County. Educational programming is provided at

Syble Hopp School to meet the needs of children with disabilities between the ages of three to a
student's twenty-first birthday residing in Brown County in the seven districts served. The seven

districts include De Pere, West De Pere, Wrightstown, Denmark, Ashwaubenon,

Howard/Suamico, and Pulaski. They have an early childhood program, and then also have

students in primary, intermediate, middle and high school. Their curriculum is community based

and revolves around functional academics, community living, independent living,

recreational/leisure skills, and vocational training. The balance between the components are

determined by the age and functioning level of the child. The younger the child the more

academics; the older the child the more emphasis on Independent Living, Community Living and

Vocational Skills. A full range of other support services including physical therapy, occupational

therapy, speech therapy, adaptive physical education, adaptive music and the use of a therapy

pool are all available as needed.

There are a lot of community supports out there to not only help indivudals with ASD but

also to help their parents and families and to help them become active members of the

community while living successful, meaningful lives.