National Autism Association

The mission of the National Autism Association-Northeast Ohio is to give families who have a child or children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder the tools to locate and access necessary treatments. We will fulfill this mission by providing financial assistance to help defray the costs of such treatments and by connecting families to existing resources.
NAA-Northeast Ohio Chapter

Click on the Special Events tab above or here to learn more about our Winter/Spring 2008 benefit concerts that support our programs, including the Helping Hand grant program!

Helping Hand Program

Evan Photo

We are unable to accept new applications for 2008 at this time as we are currently fulfilling our 2007 committments to families previously placed on the Helping Hand Program's waiting list.  Please check back in September 2008 for updates when a possible Fall grant cycle will be announced.

To receive automatic updates on grants and other autism resources, please sign up to be on our mailing list through this website or by emailing Andrea Pattison at apattison@autismnortheastohio.org

Helping Hand Grants in Northeast Ohio are provided to qualifying families to help children with autism access needed interventions, including speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, behavioral intervention, home programing costs, tuition assitance, respite care, marriage counseling for the parents, summer camps expenses as well as medical treatment costs, including biomedical interventions.

Grants are given to families that reside in NAA Northeast Ohio service area, i.e. in Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Lorain, Summit, Medina, and Portage counties.

NAA-NEO operates autonomously from the national organization (National Autism Association - NAA) on many levels, including its mission and grant giving priorities.

Linking You to Services

Resource Linking Services: Technical assistance is provided by linking families to service providers (i.e. therapists, advocates, advisors, financial planners) and organizations (i.e. Autism Society of Ohio, ARC, Milestones, Educational advocacy groups, County Board of MRDD.)

NAA-NE Ohio collaborates with the aforementioned organizations and providers to augment rather than duplicate their services.

Financial Workshops Available

Financial Education Services: Quarterly workshops are provided to share information about available resources for funding autism related interventions (insurance, SSI, Medicaid, the Ohio Autism Scholarship, and service providers) and financial planning (taxes, estate, financial planning).