Our Organizational History Threshold was first founded in the state of Oregon on February 14, 1992, as a nonprofit corporation, by the appropriate filing of Articles of Incorporation filed with the State of Oregon. At that time the corporation was registered as a charitable organization with the Oregon State Department of Justice. In April of 1993 we were granted retroactive federal 501(c)(3) fully tax-exempt status as of the date of our founding, which defines our primary activity as operating educational and therapeutic programs and related provider education services for a handicapped population. We provide our services and programs as an Autism community allyship through family-centered services and person-focused program models. These activities continue to be our main focus and represents our current charitable status. In 2010 we will be expanding our mission to include research and practice materials development activities. Step-Up Foundational Program for Young Children with Autism™ Opened on September 14, 1992. This was a year-round full service educational and therapeutic intevention program for children across the Autism Spectrum with and without additional orthopedic, vision, hearing, and cognitive, disabilities. The program began as an associate program of the University of North Carolina, Division TEACCH and achieved affliate status and certification levels of program quality. Funding for therapeutic programs in Oregon were shifted to public schools in 1995. Step-Up Foundational Program was forced to closed and our families and students were smoothly transitioned to public schools and/or our Open Door School. Step-Up Foundational Services became an individual fee-for-intensive-services option that was available within our Open Door School Cooperative--See Below. Our Open Door School™--Alternative Autism Education Cooperative opened September 14, 1995. After the federal and state funding priorities in Oregon were shifted to public schools and the schools sought training from Threshold and University of North Carolina, Division TEACCH.Threshold continued in its mission to provider alternative private and homeschool educational options to families and opened a cooperative school where both family members and children with Autism could be trained using developmental models of education and family support. The University of North Carolina followed up with this new program until it was determined that we were functioning at certified levels of program quality, independent of their professional oversite. This program continued until spring of 2008 when our last group graduated and Sharone much needed a sabbatical (first in 15 years) to complete her doctoral research. Open Door School will be reopened as a research project site in our expansion location in Washington State for the development and practical training of educational materials that will be available through our online information brokerage. Only parents who have completed and implemented our training program will be able to participate in this new research and practice program by working as service volunteers to the larger Autism community. Windows of Opportunity: Creating Careers from Entry Level Jobs™. 1997-Present. As our family and child graduates aged into early and later adult transition years we added an alternative afternoon educational program to expand on the Open Door School for both children in public school and our cooperative school program. This program offers educational tutoring, community life skills, vocational training and niche job placements that use structured and alternative communication supports for people with Autism across the full spectrum. We have expanded this program to adult residential placments and will be expanding access to that option for our Threshold families in the years to come. First Step™, Life Shift™, Missing Pieces™ Provider Training Project 1995-1999. Working in an independent contractor relation to the local public educational and mental health systems, Threshold developed this series of basic orientation, intermediate parent training, and advancing program development trainings for family and professional service providers. Those training programs were researched and developed with collegial consultantion with faculty and adminstration of Pacific Oaks College Human Development Program and in general followership to the developmental models of The Univesity of North Carolina, Division TEACCH. Several of the approaches and materials of this program were adopted by Division TEACCH, as exemplars of practical applications of their long term university-based research model. We trained thousands of family and service providers, including parents, siblings, extended family, educators, classroom aids, group home providers, recreational therapists, program administrators, and commercial employers during this project. (©1993-2000. Sharone Lee. All Rights Reserved. Trademarked and Registered Training Products.) ADAPT: Adaptive Developmentally Appropriate Practice and Theory. 2003-Present. Our years of research-based training and practical application Threshold developed and offered a comprehensive model of developmental best Autism practice training for family and service providers. Not a new model in itself ADAPT was designed to help adults without Autism become more ready, able and willing to provide adaptive program models for people with Autism across our life spans and community settings. See home page for more information about the updated models of our basic LEAP orientation, intermediate CALM parenting workshop and advancing ADAPT program provider trainings (©1999-2009. Sharone Lee. All Rights Reserved. Trademarked and Registered Training Products.) OUR DIRECT TRAINING CLIENTS, TRAINING SERIES, AND CONSULTATION PROJECTS INCLUDE: Willamette Educational Service DIstrict/Regional Programs for Autism, and EI/ECSE and Salem-Keizer School Consultants and Staffs Cascade Educational Service District/Regional Programs for Autism, and Beaverton EI/ECSE Preschool Consultants and Staffs Autism Society of Oregon, Non-Profit Reorganization, Screening Poster, Journal Design and Editor, and CALM Parent Training Series Federally Supervised Training Project for the Closure and Client Transition of Fairview Training Center, Salem, Oregon Oregon State Hospital Professional Staff Marion County Parole and Probation Staff Boise/Nampa Idaho Community: Early Intervention, Public School, Mental health, and Adult Service Providers Chico/Sacramento Community Providers in EI/ECSE, Public Schools, Mental Health and Developmental Services Walgreens, South Carolina Distribution Center Project for Full Autism Spectrum Employment Project Families of children with Autism from across Oregon, Southern Washington, Idaho, and Northern California. www.understandingautism.org. After having a basic organizational website since 1997, our first online information brokerage was launched in December of 2003. The newest and greatly expanded web resource will be relaunched in its latest incarnation in 2010. After ten years of research in information brokerage and knowledge systems--we are ready to go and to move into the global arena of Autism providership.To continue to follow us here, as our new online services and products expand, just watch us keep going and growing. |
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