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The Nashville Regional Intervention Program

The Regional intervention Program of Nashville, TN (RIP)was starred at the Kennedy Center of Vanderbilt/Peabody Univerrsity in 1969. Professors John Ora and Ronald Wiegerink received a grant fron the Hadicapped Children's Early Education Act for a three year demonstration program serving autistic preschoolers and their mothers. The Kennedy Center provided counseling space for mothers to receive training in helping develop the children's language and social skills. The Center also provided a preschool classroom for the children to interact with educational toys and other children.

At that time very few children were regonized to have autism so there were few mothers and children to serve initially. The Program was working with the Pediatric Society of Nashville to find additional children. Services were to be provided within 48 hours to encourage participation. The Pediatricions found some autistic children, but soon determined that they had an abundance of mother's who were struggling with parenting of opposition children. RIP agreed to help these mothers as well and was soon providing parental training for many such mothers and preschool for their children. Initially graduate students helped with numbers of incoming mothers and children. When the resources became stretched mothers of the autistic children who had learned behavior modification techniques offered to help and set the stage for a developing parent to parent program.

It was anticipated that there would be about 8-12 children with autism in regional area. Seven were found the first year and an additional 43 other parents and children with behavior disorders were served.

RIP continue to grow during the first two years and then as proposed the State of Tennessee' Mental Health Department accepted the staff and the program moving it to its current location in Nashville. RIP continues to serve all eligible parents and children from the regional area in facility with clinical space and three preschool classrooms. Although many changes have occurred services are still available on short notice and the parents served by the Program continue to offer parent to parent support and training.

The RIP model has been replicated many time in Tennessee and in other states. RIP began as a demonstration program and continues to be that today.